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By PTI
DENPASAR: Direct international flights to Bali have resumed for the first time in two years as Indonesia opens the resort island to foreign travellers from all countries, but mandatory quarantine remains in place for all visitors.
Officials had said in October that Bali would welcome foreign arrivals from 19 countries that meet World Health Organization criteria, such as having their COVID-19 cases under control.
But there were no direct international flights to Bali until Thursday, when Garuda Indonesia operated its first such flight in two years from Tokyo.
Singapore Airlines will introduce a regular direct route to and from Denpasar in Bali starting Feb.16, said Taufan Yudhistira, the public relations manager at Bali’s international airport.
Fully vaccinated travellers need to quarantine for five days in a hotel or on a liveaboard boat certified by the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, and travellers who have received one dose of COVID-19 vaccine must quarantine for seven days.
Indonesia reported 27,197 new coronavirus infections and 38 deaths on Thursday in the latest 24-hour period.
The country has seen more than 4.4 million total cases since the pandemic began.
The country’s latest surge in cases, driven by the highly transmissible omicron variant, has mostly been concentrated in Jakarta, but in recent days infections have increased significantly in Java and Bali, said Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, the government minister who leads the COVID-19 response in Java and Bali.
The quarantine for foreign arrivals is intended to prevent further spread of the virus, said Pandjaitan.
Before the pandemic, Bali’s airport accommodated more than 200 international flights with at least one million passengers per day in 2019.
The island was closed to international flights after COVID-19 hit the world’s fourth most populous country in 2020.
Tourism is the main source of income in Bali, which is home to more than 4 million people who are mainly Hindu in the mostly Muslim archipelago nation.
Bali’s tourist areas were deserted two decades ago after visitors were scared off by deadly terror attacks that targeted foreigners, but the island has worked to overcome that image.
The reopening of Bali to travellers from all countries will help boost the island’s economy, which has been badly affected by the pandemic, Pandjaitan said.
The reopening will also serve as a “trial,” said Tourism and Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno, as the government prepares to host G-20 events in Bali later this year.
A G-20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors in mid-February was supposed to be held in Bali but has been relocated to Jakarta because of the surge in COVID-19 cases.
Some attendees will join the events virtually.
South Korea on Friday extended its limits on indoor gatherings as health workers reported the fourth straight day of record coronavirus cases, following the Lunar New Year holiday.
Announcing the decision at a government meeting, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum cited the “inexorable” virus spread driven by the highly contagious omicron variant, even as he acknowledged the public’s fatigue with pandemic restrictions.
The 27,443 new cases reported by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency was 4,500 more than the previous one-day record set on Thursday, reflecting an acceleration in transmissions following this week’s holiday.
Amid the virus surge, health workers are struggling to keep up with a sudden increase in at-home COVID-19 patients, including delivering Pfizer’s Paxlovid pills for treatment.
At least through Feb. 20, officials will restrict any private social gatherings between those who are fully vaccinated to six people, while requiring unvaccinated people to eat or drink alone at restaurants and coffee shops.
Public indoor dining is banned after 9 p.m.
Proof of vaccination or a recent negative test is also required to enter potentially crowded venues such as restaurants, nightclubs, karaoke rooms and gyms.
The expanded use of rapid antigen test kits, which experts say can fail to detect the omicron variant, has raised concerns that infected people may also continue to venture out in public, after getting a false negative test.
Kim, Seoul’s No.2 official behind President Moon Jae-in, said South Korea may resume steps to restore pre-pandemic normalcy if it becomes clear the hospital system can withstand the omicron-driven surge without strict social distancing rules, but he didn’t further specify criteria for that decision.
As of Thursday, 257 virus patients were in serious or critical conditions while less than 15% of intensive care units designated for COVID-19 treatment were occupied.
The country has been reporting about 20 deaths a day in recent weeks, down from the 50 to 100 daily fatalities it saw in December and early January when it was hit heavily by the delta variant.
South Korea has shortened quarantine periods for fully vaccinated people who test positive and re-centered its testing strategy around rapid tests, so that the more accurate lab tests are mostly saved for priority groups, including people 60 years or older.
But the viral surge has severely strained health workers’ contact tracing efforts.
“With so many cases being diagnosed, local public health offices are facing multiple administrative burdens,” Deputy Health Minister Lee Ki-il said during a briefing.
As of Friday, more than 104,000 people with mild or moderate symptoms were being treated at home, Lee said.
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