"During 18 day-long enforcement of the emergency PPKM, the passenger number dropped rapidly by 90 percent compared with the number before emergency PPKM," public relations manager for KAI operation area (Daop) 7 Madiun, Ixfan Hendriwintoko, said in Madiun, East Java, on Wednesday.
The number of people arriving and departing from Daop 7 stations amid emergency PPKM stood at 1,060 per day, he informed. Meanwhile, passenger numbers before the emergency PPKM was enforced reached 11,614 per day, he said.
The number of passengers shrank due to the Ministry of Transportation's circular on containing COVID-19 transmission, he added.
The ministry's circular letter (SE) of No. 54/2021 on domestic travel by rail transportation during COVID-19 laid down several conditions for passengers wishing to undertake long-distance trains, Hendriwintoko said.
For example, between July 5 and July 20, travelers undertaking long-distance train trips in Java needed to present vaccination cards, showing they had taken at least one vaccine dose, he elaborated. The regulation has been extended until July 31, 2021.
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Passengers making long-distance train trips in Java-Bali and Sumatra were required to test negative for COVID-19 and show their RT-PCR result (obtained maximum 2x24 hours priorly) or show negative rapid antigen tests (taken maximum 1x24 hours priorly) before departure, he said.
Passengers below 18 years were not required to show vaccination cards and passengers below 5 years were exempt from all regulations, he added.
All passengers were required to be in good health, with no complaints of flu, cough, anosmia, fever, and diarrhea, Hendriwintoko said. Their body temperature could not be higher than 37.3 Celsius, and they were required to always wear triple cloth masks or medical grade masks covering the nose and mouth, he added.
Local and agglomeration train passengers were not required to show vaccine cards and a negative RT-PCR test or antigen rapid test result, he said.
The KAI fully supports all government regulations aimed at suppressing COVID-19 transmission in Indonesia, he added.
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Translator: Louis Stevani, Resinta Sulisti
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2021
