Indonesians are looking ahead warily toward the holiday travel season, anxious for crucial tourist spending but worried an influx of visitors could spread the coronavirus just as its pandemic situation seems to be subsiding.
After seeing infection and death rates soar in July and August, officials said this week they are sticking to plans to allow travel with some limitations. They expect nearly 20 million people to vacation in the popular islands of Java and Bali.
After announcing that year-end travel would be permitted, the government on Wednesday cancelled the Christmas Eve holiday — on a Friday this year — in an effort to discourage vacationing somewhat. The cancellation of the Dec. 24 holiday prompted cries of protest from the predominantly Muslim nation’s Christian minority, highlighting the challenge of balancing safety restrictions with individual freedoms.
But Indonesia’s vaccination rate is low compared to others in the region — raising fears a new outbreak could spread rapidly again and lead to large numbers of people requiring hospitalization. About 25% of Indonesian’s eligible population has been fully vaccinated, compared to 73% in Malaysia, 80% in Singapore, and even 41% in Thailand where the vaccine rollout was plagued with early delays.
One study of antibodies of Jakarta residents done midyear by the University of Indonesia’s School of Public Health and others found that nearly half of people tested had been infected with COVID-19. Budiman said wider research suggests that as many as 15% of Indonesians — with some estimates as high as 29% — have been infected since the start of the pandemic.
The situation makes it all the more important for the government to enforce existing health and safety regulations as it seeks to strike a balance between economic interests and managing the pandemic, said John Fleming, the Asia-Pacific head of health for the Red Cross.
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