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A health worker tests migrant workers for COVID-19 upon their arrival at the Batam Centre International Port. (ANTARA/ HO-Korem 033/WP) - 

The COVID-19 Handling Task Force said it has tightened monitoring of sea travelers in border areas ever since Indonesian migrant workers returning from Malaysia via Batam, Riau Islands were found carrying fake coronavirus test results.

"Entry tests (against COVID-19) for everyone who come, mostly Indonesian migrant workers from Malaysia and Singapore is a must," deputy for emergency management at the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), Maj. Gen. Fajar Setyawan, said in a statement issued here on Thursday.

The task force is also ensuring that the travelers undergo quarantine to prevent the spread of the Omicron variant, he added.

"We will also add new quarantine places," Setyawan said during a coordination meeting with Riau Islands Governor Anshar Ahmad to discuss the finding of fake RT-PCR test documents.

Batam is one of the entry gates to Indonesia via sea, with at least 250 people on average arriving at the port from Singapore and Malaysia every day, Setyawan said.

Currently, Batam has quarantine facilities with 2,712 beds, but it requires 2,750 beds, he added.

"The fact is that there are more PMI (migrant workers) arrivals than non-PMI, and hotels are less used (as quarantine sites) than state-owned facilities," he added.

According to the task force, the bed occupancy rate at quarantine facilities for migrant workers, students, and civil servants in Batam has reached 95 percent, while the rate in hotels is just 32 percent.

Until now, the task force has not detected Omicron infection among international travelers arriving in the city, Setyawan said.

Meanwhile, spokesperson for the COVID-19 Task Force, Wiku Adisasmito, said the government is trying to prevent coronavirus transmission by tightening control over border-cross traffic by sea, as many Indonesian workers use sea routes to return from neighboring countries.

"The addition of quarantine beds is also a priority for the government at this time to anticipate an increase in arrivals during the Christmas and New Year holidays," he added.

In December, 353 people tested positive for COVID-19, almost double compared to the previous month, when infections were recorded at 168, Adisasmito said//ANT

Documentation: A view of Ancol Beach in North Jakarta on September 28, 2021. (ANTARA/Dewa Ketut Sudiarta Wiguna) - 

Museums and tourism attractions in Jakarta will remain open for half a day on New Year's Eve on Friday (December 31, 2021) and the New Year holiday on Saturday (January 1, 2022), an official has informed.

Ancol Dreamland in North Jakarta, Beautiful Indonesia in Miniature Park in East Jakarta, and Ragunan Zoo in South Jakarta are among the several tourist attractions that will operate from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. local time (UTC +7) on the two days.

"Despite our allowing the three tourism attractions to operate, we will not allow any celebration or party to take place," head of the monitoring and control department of the Jakarta Tourism and Creative Economy Office, Iffan, said here on Thursday.

Other tourist attractions that will operate with the same time restrictions are the Maritime Museum in North Jakarta and several museums located within the Jakarta Old Town area in West Jakarta, including the Jakarta History Museum, Wayang Museum, Fine Arts and Ceramic Museum, Bank Indonesia Museum, Bank Mandiri Museum, and Magic Art 3D Museum, he informed.

However, the authorities have decided to close Setu Babakan Betawi Cultural Village in South Jakarta and the Fatahillah Square in Jakarta Old Town area during the two days, the official added.

Head of the Jakarta Tourism and Creative Economy Office, Andhika Permata, said that the decision to restrict operating hours was regulated by the office's Decision No. 789 of 2021 about the enforcement of Level 1 activities restrictions in the province's tourism sector.

The regulation instructs tourism attraction operators to offer tickets only by online means until 1 p.m. each day, while patrons are required to purchase tickets at least one day before their planned visit, he informed.

As tourism attractions are only operating till 3 p.m., they need to notify patrons to vacate their premises one hour before closing time, he added.

The regulation also permits only vaccinated patrons and staff to access tourism attractions, with the maximum capacity restricted to 75 percent of the total capacity, he added//ANT

U.S. President Joe Biden and Russia's President Vladimir Putin shake hands during the U.S.-Russia summit at Villa La Grange in Geneva, Switzerland, June 16, 2021. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/Pool - 

US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin will speak on Thursday (Dec 30), the White House said, as Washington crafts a common response to Russia's military build-up on the Ukraine border with European allies.

The two leaders will discuss a range of topics, including upcoming security talks between the countries and a tense situation in Europe, White House National Security Council spokesperson Emily Horne said in a statement.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Reuters the call was planned for "late Thursday evening," without elaborating.

Horne said Biden had spoken with leaders across Europe about the situation on the Ukraine border, while Biden administration officials were in touch with NATO, the European Union and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Moscow has alarmed the West by massing tens of thousands of troops near Ukraine in the past two months, following its seizure of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in 2014 and its backing of separatists fighting Kyiv troops in eastern Ukraine.

Russia denies planning to attack Ukraine and says it has the right to move its troops on its own soil as it likes.

Moscow, worried by what it says is the West's re-arming of Ukraine, has said it wants legally-binding guarantees NATO will not expand further eastwards, and that certain offensive weapons will not be deployed to Ukraine or other neighbouring countries.

US concerns have not ebbed in recent weeks, according to a senior Biden administration official. Other US officials said that despite a report over the weekend that Russia would be pulling back about 10,000 troops from its border with Ukraine, they had seen little evidence to support that so far.

"We are at a moment of crisis and have been for some weeks now given the Russian build-up, and it will take a high level of engagement to address this and to find a path of de-escalation," said one of the officials, who declined to be named.

That person said Putin requested the call with Biden.

"When President Biden has asked to speak with President Putin over the course of 2021, President Putin has said, Yes, let's talk. And when President Putin says, I'm interested in touching base and having a phone call, President Biden says yes."

Biden is likely to reiterate during the call that the United States will take swift economic action against Russia in the case of an invasion. They will also reinforce the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in such a case.

But the US president has been pushing direct diplomacy as an alternative.

The Biden administration has been in deep talks with Ukraine as well as a host of NATO allies, including those bordering Russia, according to Horne, the White House spokesperson.

Biden will likely speak with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy soon, another official said. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with the Ukrainian leader on Wednesday and expressed "unwavering support for Ukraine's independence," according to a spokesperson.

JSTARS, a type of US military spy plane, operated in Ukrainian airspace for the first time earlier this week, though different types of surveillance aircraft are common in the region, officials said.

Biden on Tuesday said "we'll see" when asked if he would meet Putin on Jan 10, the same day US and Russian officials are due to hold security talks. But Biden is not expected to attend those talks or meet with Putin that day, an official said.

Russia and NATO are also set to hold talks on Jan 12, with a broader meeting including Moscow, Washington and other European countries slated for Jan 13.

Putin has compared to the current tensions to the Cold War-era Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. Washington regards some of his demands, including restrictions on NATO expansion, as non-starters.

Conversations between Putin and Biden are likely to touch on other issues, too, including the ongoing talks with Iran over its nuclear program, a US official said//CNA

People arrive at Piccadilly amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in London, Britain December 29, 2021 - 

The United Kingdom reported 183,037 COVID-19 cases on Wednesday (Dec 29), a new record and over 53,000 more than the previous highest figure registered just a day earlier, government statistics showed.

The rise, sparked by the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the virus, also coincides with an increase in the number of patients in hospital who have tested positive for coronavirus.

Despite the growing number of cases, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he will not bring in new restrictions this year in England to limit the spread of Omicron, which now accounts for 90 per cent of all community infections, according to health officials.

Johnson said the high number of people who had received COVID-19 booster shots, which now stands at more than 33 million or about 58 per cent of the population aged over 12, meant there was no need for new rules ahead of New Year celebrations.

"Enjoy New Year sensibly and cautiously," he said. "We've got cases certainly going up, we've got a lot of cases of Omicron, but on the other hand we can see the data about the relative mildness of Omicron."

The data, which included five days of figures for Northern Ireland due to differences in reporting practices over the Christmas holidays, showed the number of cases had risen from Tuesday's previous high of just under 130,000 and were up 41.4 per cent in the last seven days.

Hospitalisations have also been rising sharply and according to official figures, there were 10,462 people in hospital in England with COVID-19 on Wednesday, up by 916 from the previous day.

Of these, 771 needed to be in mechanical ventilation beds, a figure that has changed little during December.

Johnson said he had been told by some doctors that up to 90 per cent of patients with COVID in intensive care had not received their booster vaccines.

There were also 57 deaths recorded within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test, up from 18 on Tuesday, but well below the numbers being reported earlier this month//CNA