VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Jakarta - Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto has revealed that the traffic of people at 135 entrances to Indonesia is being monitored tightly to prevent the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19).

The government also established cooperation with other countries having positive cases of COVID-19, the minister said here on Monday after attending a coordination meeting on "Evaluation and Follow Up Plan for Handling of COVID-19".

Also present in the meeting were Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Muhadjir Effendy, Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko, and Director General of Customs and Excise of the Ministry of Finance Heru Pambudi.

"We are working with the ministry and immigration office of Singapore, too. they give a warning of infected citizens. And Singapore is not an epicenter," he noted, adding that the World Health Organization (WHO) said the COVID-19 epicenter is only mainland China.

Currently, 78 Indonesian citizens are being quarantined on Diamond Princess cruise ship together with some 3,700 passengers and crew, in Japan waters. The ship is home to the highest number of COVID-19 cases outside China.

"We are waiting for the results of the PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction). If the results of the examination are negative, I will go there to check and pick them up," Terawan said. So far, the ship's 78 crew members from Indonesia are not infected by the virus.

Meanwhile, Bambang Widodo, the Director of Immigration Residence Permit at the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, said that since the COVID-19 outbreaks, 109 people have been denied entry into Indonesia, because they had been in China over the last several days.

Of the 109 people, 85 people were refused entry at Ngurah Rai Airport in Bali, 13 at Soekarno Hatta Airport in Jakarta, five at Juanda Airport in Surabaya, five at Kualanamu Airport in Medan, and one person at Batam port in Riau Islands Province.

In addition to, there were 36 foreigners whose visas were refused by the Indonesian immigration. They comprised seven Russians, one Romanian, four Brazilians, one Chinese, three Armenians, one New Zealander, two Ukrainians, three Britons, two Moroccans, six Kazakhs, two Americans, one Ghanaian, one Australian, one Canadian, and one Maldivian.

Those who were refused entry into Indonesia were returned to the last airports they departed.

Indonesia has so far remained free from coronavirus cases. (ANTARA)