Indonesian authorities have banned entry to the country to the people who visited China. Many evacuated visitors who have been in China for 14 days and have returned to home from Hubei province faced local protests.
After Indonesia’s government decided to temporarily stop flights to and from mainland China starting Wednesday, the authorities issued another ban- for visitors from China. Despite there have not been any confirmed cases of coronavirus in Indonesia, the Cabinet does its best to prevent the infection’s spreading, Reuters reports.
According to foreign minister Retno Marsudi, since Sunday, Indonesia immediately bars visitors who have been in China for 14 days from entering or transiting the country. In addition, Indonesia’s Lion Air Group has already stopped its flights to China.
The foreign ministry also asked Indonesians to avoid travelling to China during the coronavirus outbreak. As of Feb 2nd, Chinese authorities have reported 304 deaths from the deadly virus.
Indonesia met flight with 243 compatriots from China
On Sunday morning, 243 Indonesians from China’s Hubei province have arrived in the Capital city airport. People who left the Chinese epicentre of the coronavirus were immediately placed under quarantine at a military base on the sparsely populated Natuna Besar island northwest of Borneo island.
As Mrs Marsudi said, a total of 285 travellers, passengers, flight crew and the evacuation team will have to stay there for 14 days under observation. Although she said all were reportedly healthy, their presence on the island alarmed some residents.
All the Indonesian government measures have been weighed and planned carefully, said the police spokesperson Goldenhard. The location of the observatory is far from their homes, some 6 km away.
“The virus won’t spread,” Goldenhard added.
Iraq has also banned the entry of all foreigners coming from China over fears about the coronavirus outbreak, the interior ministry said on Sunday.
