Indonesia will ban all foreign nationals from January 1 to 14 to prevent the spread of a new strain of coronavirus, Reuters quoted Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi as saying
Last week, Indonesia banned entry to the country for anyone arriving from Britain and also tightened rules for those arriving from Europe and Australia to contain the new “British” variant of COVID-19.
Because of the coronavirus pandemic situation, Indonesian authorities had previously banned all tourists from entering the country, an exception was made for those who were visiting the country for work. The new rules will apply to all foreign nationals, except high-ranking officials.
Earlier it became known about the discovery of a new mutation of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 in the UK. Britain’s Advisory Council for New and Emerging Respiratory Viral Threats confirmed that the variant of the coronavirus identified in the country is spreading at an increased rate and requires even greater caution from the public. Although preliminary estimates suggest the new variant of the virus could be 70% more infectious than usual, there is no indication yet that it is more dangerous in terms of deaths or hospital admissions.