Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia's Ministry of Transportation has said that so far, no requirements have been laid down to control travel or people's movement during the Christmas and New Year holidays despite an increase in COVID-19 cases.

"Currently, there are none (COVID-19 travel requirements). Everything is still in the form of an appeal; there are no mandatory protocols for travelers," the ministry's spokesperson, Adita Irawati, said at a press conference on the Christmas and New Year preparations in Jakarta on Monday.

She noted that regarding travel requirements or conditions related to COVID-19, the Ministry of Transportation will refer to the related ministries or agencies, such as the Ministry of Health.

As per the Ministry of Health's records, the number of daily COVID-19 cases in Indonesia rose by 35–40 as of December 6, 2023, with the number of hospitalized patients reaching 60–131.

This pushed the hospital occupancy rate to 0.06 percent, while the death rate reached 0–3 cases per day.

The latest cases have been dominated by the Omicron XBB 1.5 sub-variant, which was responsible for the COVID-19 wave in Europe and the United States. The EG.2 and EG.5 subvariants have also been detected in some patients.

However, the number of infections is still lower compared to during the pandemic period, when it reached 50 thousand–400 thousand per week.

In the period from November 27 to December 3, Jakarta recorded 80 COVID-19-positive cases. Of the total patients, 90 percent experienced mild symptoms, while 10 percent experienced moderate symptoms and were hospitalized.

The Indonesian Government on December 30, 2022, announced an end to the public activity restrictions (PPKM) policy that was enforced to control coronavirus transmission in Indonesia.

Then, on June 21, 2023, the government officially revoked the pandemic status in the country.

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Translator: Adimas Raditya, Raka Adji
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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