ASEAN member state Indonesia removed on 21 March the quarantine requirement for all arrivals from overseas, as several Southeast Asian countries are moving to ease entry for vaccinated tourists and reinvigorate the tourism industry which has suffered two years of strict border restrictions.
The COVID-19 quarantine requirement was lifted with immediate effect across all Indonesia, following a trial period of such easing of the restrictions for vaccinated tourists on the islands of Bali, Batam, and Binta.
Previously, fully vaccinated tourists had to remain in quarantine for one day, while partially vaccinated travellers had to remain under quarantine for seven days upon arriving in Indonesia.
A negative COVID test will still be required despite the scrapping of the quarantine requirement.
“With the handling of the pandemic more controlled …today we announce that the policy of no quarantine has been expanded across Indonesia,” Indonesia’s Tourism Minister Sandiaga Uno said on 21 March.
On 23 March, Indonesian President Joko Widodo said in a speech carried by The Straits Times:
“The Covid-19 situation has continued to improve, hence the government has decided to take several measures to ease restrictions.”
COVID cases in Indonesia have been on a decline in recent weeks, while 75 percent of the residents eligible for vaccination are fully vaccinated.
Indonesia follows other Southeast Asian nations in scrapping quarantine requirements for vaccinated visitors. Thailand remove the rule from 1 February, while Malaysia said on 22 March that starting 1st April 2022, Malaysia will allow quarantine-free entry for fully-vaccinated travellers, ending almost two years of stringent border controls introduced to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.
Singapore said on 24 March that it would lift quarantine requirements for all vaccinated travellers from April.