VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

 Indonesia is cooperating with Singapore to prevent COVID-19 transmission by implementing the Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) program for overseas travelers, spokesperson for the COVID-19 Handling Task Force said here on Thursday afternoon.

"Currently, the Indonesian government, through the Foreign Affairs Ministry, is collaborating with other ministries and institutions as well as the Singaporean government for establishing the VTL program,” Wiku Adisasmito said during a press conference that was streamed on the National Disaster Mitigation Agency's YouTube channel.

VTL is a protection program for foreign travelers who have received a complete dose of COVID-19 vaccination and possess a medical certificate as proof, he informed.

Prospective tourists must be residents of countries that are part of the mutual cooperation, he said.

Furthermore, Adisasmito informed that it is possible to establish the VTL program with other countries by considering their recent positivity rate and the socio-economic aspects between them and Indonesia.

In addition to the VTL, he said the government has carried out various other cooperation such as a mutual recognition agreement on vaccine certificates and a travel corridor arrangement.

The cooperation is aimed at reviving community activities in compliance with strict health protocols so that governments can anticipate imported COVID-19 cases well, he explained.

Furthermore, the spokesperson informed that Bali province will host three international badminton tournaments in the next few weeks.

Hence, the COVID-19 Handling Task Force along with the Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) is preparing health protocols for the events.

"We will apply the bubble system; thus, the participants will only carry out activities at the sites which have been prepared by the committee, for instance, hotels, training venues, and competition venues," he said.

The system is aimed at curbing the transmission of the virus, he added. In addition, all related parties will have to go through proper health screening, he informed.

Furthermore, all participants coming from abroad will arrive at Soekarno-Hatta Airport and go to Bali through domestic transportation, he said.  (Antaranews)