VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

A Chinese national who was reported to be positively infected with the coronavirus and had taken a trip to Bali, did not contract the virus here, the Head of Bali Provincial Health Agency, Ketut Suarjaya, said.

"Theoretically, the tourist was not exposed to the virus in Bali since he left on January 28. He tested positive for the COVID-19 on February 5, eight days after his departure from Bali. The incubation period of the virus is normally three to seven days," Suarjaya confirmed here on Thursday.

Even if the second option of 14 days as the longest incubation period is considered, there is no positive case of coronavirus in Bali.

"Even if he brought the virus here, and it was incubated, there should have been a case reported here. But this is the 16th day, and no one has been infected. Bali remains safe," he added.

However, the agency is currently working on monitoring the tracks of the Chinese man--whose initial name is Jin-- during his trip to Bali as "according to the airline manifest, several passengers were named Jin".

As many as 20 patients were observed at the Sanglah Hospital, who were earlier suspected of being infected by the virus which initially spread in Wuhan, China.

The observation, as well as a sample test, resulted in 18 patients testing negative for the coronavirus, while another two— a Chinese and an Indonesian—are still awaiting the laboratory test results.

In the worst case, the Bali provincial government has taken several measures such as isolating patients in at least three hospitals: RSUP Sanglah, RSUD Tabanan and RS Sanjiwani Gianyar, Suarjaya emphasized.

"The standard operating procedure has been completed; medical devices, as well as the staff, are all ready. Thus, there is no need to worry even if it happens. Yet, we are all hoping it does not," Suarjaya remarked. (ANTARA)

Indonesia's government will not revoke citizenship statuses of more than 600 Indonesian nationals linked to ISIS while reaffirming that the authority has no plan to welcome them into the country due to security reasons. "We do not renounce their citizenship statuses, but they are not allowed to return to Indonesia because they were (linked to) ISIS," Coordinating Minister of Politics, Law, and Security Mahfud MD said in his office in Jakarta, Thursday.

Revoking one's citizenship status must proceed through a trial, according to the former chief justice of Indonesia's Constitutional Court. "There's a legal procedure before renouncing a nationality status," he added.

On Wednesday, President Joko Widodo reaffirmed the government's stance of not allowing some 689 ex-ISIS combatants, now staying in evacuation camps in Turkey and Syria. The President further named the people as "ISIS, former Indonesian nationals".

Despite having no plan to bring back the former combatants, President Jokowi ordered his ministers to closely identify all the Indonesian nationals linked to the ISIS. The information collected will help immigration officials block them if and when they return to the country, the President remarked.

However, the Indonesian government will allow children under 10 years of age, who have no parents, to return to Indonesia.  (ANTARA)

Indonesian citizens who were evacuated from Wuhan, China, will be able to leave Natuna District, Riau Islands Province, after the 14-day observation period ends on Saturday, February 15, according to Minister of Health Terawan Agus Putranto.

"The 15th (February). Family or relatives can pick them up at Natuna. It's up to the family," Terawan said here on Thursday.

The minister also ensured that until now some 285 Indonesian citizens including students, aircraft crew and pick-up team members, returning from Wuhan, China, are in good health during observation. None had been affected by the new coronavirus.

Meanwhile, TNI Commander in Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto and National Police Chief General Idham Azis on Thursday visited residents of Kampung Tua Penagi and Kampung Pering Bandarsyah during a working visit to Natuna.

They inspected health posts in the area and provided staple assistance to residents around the observation center.

"The Chief of Police and I, are visiting to motivate the TNI soldiers in the context of humanitarian tasks," the TNI Commander remarked.

"Secondly, we also greet the people around the observation area," he added.

The residents living around the observation center were in good health, he said.

The government earlier urged people to not harbor concerns over 238 Indonesians to be reunited with families after their 14-day quarantine and declared healthy by authorities.

"We do not need to be worried," Social Affairs Minister Juliari Peter Batubara notified journalists here Tuesday in connection with the government's plan to reunite them with their families.

Batubara attempted to convince the people at large, saying that those who were under strict observation and now confirmed to be healthy by the Health Ministry, would be allowed to reunite with their families.

"Therefore, if they have been permitted to go home, it is a guarantee that there is no need to worry," he noted. People should avoid harboring concerns over the health of their countrymen currently quarantined in Natuna following their evacuation from Wuhan on February 2, he stated.

Early this week, the Coordinating Human Development and Culture Ministry held a technical meeting for talks on the planned return of Indonesians to their provinces.

In this connection, the South Sulawesi provincial administration has been adopting precautionary measures since three of the 238 evacuees are residents of Bulukumba District.

"We have coordinated with the provincial health office. We are taking precautionary measures and are preparing for their return from Natuna District after they complete their 14-day coronavirus incubation period," he had noted on February 5.

The provincial administration should ensure they are in good health so that they can be reunited with their families in Bulukumba, he remarked. (ANTARA)

The Law and Human Rights Ministry’s Office in Bali Province barred 89 foreign nationals from entering the resort island as of Thursday as part of the precautionary measures against the spread of coronavirus.

"As of this morning, 89 foreign nationals were denied entry into Bali. They came from various countries. However, I have yet to receive the exact number of applications for extended emergency stay permits until now, but the number is roughly more than 300," Chief of the Bali Provincial Office of the Law and Human Rights Ministry Sutrisno stated on Thursday.

The extended emergency stay permits are valid for a month after which the applicants must return to their country. If within that period of time, they have not returned home, they will be given extension facility, he noted.

"To be certain, the emergency extension is free of charge. Since the facility is emergency, it is exempt from charge. The Chinese consulate has been here, so it will be responsible for Chinese citizens here to obtain other facility, if the need arises," he remarked.

He explained that if the Chinese tourists had overstayed their extended emergency permits but were facing financial difficulties and were in need of other facility, the Chinese consulate general in Denpasar will directly handle them.

"The consulate must be responsible for the Chinese citizens in the same way as our consulates abroad do," he noted.

The decision to bar entry to 89 foreign nationals and extend stay permits is based on Law and Human Rights Minister’s Regulation No. 3 of 2020 on suspending visa-free and visa-on-arrival for Chinese citizens, he remarked.

The 89 foreign nationals comprised 12 each from Russia and the United States; eight from Ukraine; seven from Kazakhstan; six from Canada; four each from Brazil and Kyrgyzstan; three each from Armenia, New Zealand, and Britain; two each from Morocco, Australia, Brazil, and Spain; while one each from Romania, China, Tajikistan, Ghana, Moldova, Malaysia, Uzbekistan, Germany, Austria, Egypt, Italy, France, Thailand, Britain, India, Turkey, Peru, Chile, and Sweden. (ANTARA)