The government has decided to ban crowd-pulling events and New Year’s Eve celebrations from Dec 18 to Jan 8 in a bid to prevent a spike in Covid-19 transmissions during the Christmas and New Year’s holiday season.
Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investments Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said the decision was based on the continued and significant rise in new Covid-19 cases, particularly following a five-day weekend at the end of October.
“The number of daily new cases and the death toll have continued to increase since the late October
“Mall owners should provide rent relief to vendors, such as implementing a pro-rate system or a profit-sharing scheme so that the
“Tourists traveling to Bali by air are required to present negative PCR [polymerase chain reaction] test results, while those traveling by land have to bring negative antigen rapid test results,” he said.
Previously, Anies and West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil announced that both their provinces would ban large New Year’s Eve celebration gatherings in public spaces indoors and outdoors.
Meanwhile, Bali Tourism Agency head Putu Astawa said the provincial administration would allow hotels, restaurants and tourist destinations to host New Year’s Eve celebrations in a bid to revive the island’s tourism. Celebrations must still observe strict Covid-19 health protocols.
To discourage the public from traveling, the government recently decided to reduce the number of collective leave days for the Christmas and New Year celebrations, including a substitute leave day to make up for the shortened Idul Fitri holiday.
Under the new arrangement, the country will enjoy a total of eight days off instead of eleven, namely from Dec 24 to 27 for Christmas, Dec 31 to substitute for the canceled Idul Fitri leave day, then from Jan 1 to 3, 2021, for New Year.
This article was first published in Asia One . All contents and images are copyright to their respective owners and sources.
