"Due to the growing infection rate, the museum has again been closed until further notice," Head of the Aceh Tsunami Museum Hafnidar said here on Tuesday.
Apart from the significant hike in COVID-19 cases, the instructions from the home minister and Aceh governor had also prompted the museum management to announce the closure, she said.
Based upon the Aceh Governor's Instruction No.08/INSTR/2021, the imposition of micro-scale public activity restrictions (PPKM-Mikro) in Aceh has been extended, she added.
Hafnidar said the museum, which preserves the legacies of past tsunamis in Banda Aceh, would only be reopened when Aceh is declared a "safe zone".
Prior to the closure, the Aceh Tsunami Museum had frequently been visited by local residents and travelers from outside Aceh, including those from Medan, North Sumatra.
During the pandemic, the museum officers restricted the number of visitors and required them to practice the government's mandated health protocols, she added.
As of Tuesday, Aceh's infection rate was recorded at 16,352 residents. Of that number, 12,496 patients had fully recovered, while 633 had succumbed to the coronavirus.
Currently, 3,223 COVID-19 patients in Aceh remain hospitalized.
The COVID-19 outbreak initially struck the Chinese city of Wuhan in 2019, and thereafter spread throughout the world, including countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
The Indonesian government announced the nation's first confirmed cases on March 2, 2020.
The central and regional governments have thereafter striven incessantly to flatten the coronavirus disease curve by applying healthcare protocols and social restrictions.
To break the chain of the spread of COVID-19, which had dampened the purchasing power of families throughout Indonesia, the government also banned homebound travel, or "mudik," ahead of this year's Eid al-Fitr holiday season, as they also did last year.
Vice Health Minister Dante Saksono Harbuwono noted that the number of COVID-19 cases in Indonesia, in the wake of the Eid al-Fitr festivity, is expected to peak in mid-June of 2021.
In halting new transmission clusters, the government is planning to extend the quarantine period for travelers arriving from abroad, especially from countries hit by the COVID-19 crisis, to 14 days, from the previous five days.
Currently, Indonesia's total count of COVID-19 cases surpassed 1.8 million, amid the government's stern endeavors to win the battle against COVID-19 that has acutely impacted the economy and public health.
As part of its efforts to win the fight against Covid, the Indonesian government has begun a nationwide vaccination program to contain infections, which began January 13, 2021.
The Indonesian Health Ministry had said the vaccination of some 181.5 million people would take about 15 months.
Related news: Aceh prioritizes frontline medical workers for COVID vaccine jab
Related news: Aceh's five districts, cities remain COVID-19 free with zero cases
(INE)
Translator: R.Fajri, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Suharto
Copyright © ANTARA 2021
