When the border reopens, Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi)
has directed Bali officials to intensify testing and contact tracking.
On Friday, August 10, during the President's visit to Bali, Jokowi
and various Bali officials met in the Governor's Office to discuss the Covid-19
handling status in Bali. On the agenda was preparations for the reopening of
Bali to international visitors from some select countries on October 14th 2021.
Apart from implementing the travel bubble program, Jokowi has
directed the Bali Provincial Government to strengthen testing and contact
tracing in preparation for the G-20 Meeting Conference, which was scheduled to
be held in Bali. Jokowi did express appreciation for the Bali province
government's efforts to reduce Covid-19 transmission by swiftly delivering
Covid-19 immunizations to citizens.
"We must demonstrate to them that we can control and handle
the issue in Bali." And I've also heard from Bali Vice Governor Cok Ace
that Bali has already surpassed its vaccination objective, with the majority of
the Bali population having been vaccinated." Jokowi stated on Friday,
August 10th. Data show that 80 percent of the Bali population has finished the
vaccination campaign.
Despite their success in vaccination distribution, Jokowi confessed
that the tracing and testing program in most areas of Bali is still regarded
inadequate. "Once the border reopens to international travelers, these
little formalities like tracing and testing must be expanded." Ministers
will establish entry criteria such as quarantine policies." Jokowi ended
his remarks.