Muhadjir Effendy, Indonesia's Minister
for Human Development and Culture, has stated that there is a "good
likelihood" that all Covid-19 limitations will be lifted shortly. At a
news conference in Jakarta on May 22nd, the minister acknowledged that the administration
is analyzing evidence that might lead to the lifting of all constraints.
The announcement comes during
President Joko Widodo's visit to Bali for the 7th Global Platform for Disaster
Risk Reduction. Over 4,000 delegates are expected to attend the 5-day
conference, which is being sponsored in collaboration with the United Nations.
At the moment, Bali is on PPKM Level
2, which means that these visiting delegates, tourists, and locals are all
subject to various limitations. These include wearing masks in public places
and on public transportation.
The PPKM Level 2 was extended for Java
and Bali two weeks ago. Cafes and restaurants must run at 75 percent capacity
under the directive. Diners may only be seated for an hour, and the hospitality
industry is still subject to various limitations on operating hours. Shopping
centers, event venues, and places of worship may only be operating at 75%
capacity.
The Bali tourism industry must operate
at full capacity as soon as possible. Local business owners can only recover
losses from the impact of two years of worldwide lockdowns prohibiting tourists
from visiting Bali if they can function without limitations.
All of this, though, could alter very
soon. According to Minister Effendy, the government is closely examining the
information given to them by the Covid-19 Task Forces across the country. He
mentioned the president's decision to eliminate the mask requirement in public
places and the pre-arrival PCR test for vaccinated tourists as positive indicators.
He also mentioned that the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction
delegates is not governed by bubbles.
He verified that delegates are free to
explore Bali and are not restricted to their hotels or conference centers
during the meeting. This is crucial because it demonstrates that international
government delegations are confident enough to conduct business travel with
minimal Covid-19 limitations.
President Joko Widodo is expected to
agree to more mandate relaxations if he returns from the Global Platform for
Disaster Risk Reduction with good support.
According to Effendy, the next step of
limitation reduction would be the removal of masks in indoor settings and on
public transportation. His comments were mirrored by Pandu Riono, a senior
epidemiologist from the Faculty of Health at the University of Indonesia. They
encouraged the government to lift all remaining limitations as of May 23rd to
give locals and tourists more liberty.
The Covid-19 vaccination rollout
appears to be the most important element in reducing the remaining mandates at
the moment. The vaccination has been widely distributed in Bali. Last Monday,
the local authorities said that they were redoubling their efforts to guarantee
that the senior population received their second dose.
They also revealed that the Bali
Covid-19 Task Force had been directed to conduct spot checks for vaccination
certificates now that they were no longer required to police masks worn
outside. They have been told to encourage individuals who have not been fully vaccinated
to get their free vaccine at the nearest location and to encourage those who
have been twice immunized to get their booster dose.
Authorities are likely to wait for
data from the next weeks to determine if there is an upsurge in local caseloads
as a result of the withdrawal of the pre-arrival PCR test for vaccinated
visitors. If caseloads continue low, it is expected that the regulations will
be quickly lifted, allowing full economic recovery to commence and tourists to
visit Bali with the same liberties they had before the pandemic.