Jakarta – The administration of Surakarta, Central Java, is seeking to require travelers coming into the city for the year-end holidays to enter quarantine upon arrival to curb COVID-19 transmission.
Surakarta deputy mayor FX Hadi Rudyatmo said the quarantine would last 14 days.
"The duration of the quarantine equals the virus incubation period, which is 14 days," the mayor, better known as Rudy, said on Tuesday, as quoted by kompas.id. The policy is supposed to come into force on Dec. 15.
Initially, the city administration had planned to use the Vastenburg Fortress as the quarantine facility. The fortress is an 18th-century Dutch fort located in Gladak, Surakarta, and is a city landmark.
However, parts of the heritage site were damaged and the administration would have needed to make repairs before using it as a quarantine facility.
"The awning of the entrance of the heritage site is broken. We have to fix it first," said Rudy.
Therefore, the administration decided to use the Solo Technopark, an integrated facility for science and technology under the management of the Surakarta administration.
The Solo Technopark, which is located in the eastern part of Surakarta, will be able to house 60 people for quarantine. The administration says it will add more facilities if needed in the future.
The deputy mayor said that even travelers with negative COVID-19 rapid or swab test results would have to be quarantined.
Starting on Dec. 15, joint security forces are to be deployed to several road access points to and from Surakarta to monitor travelers. The Surakarta administration will also work alongside airport, train station and bus terminal operators to screen incoming travelers.
"If we find incoming travelers, we will provide them with a bus [to transport them to the quarantine facility]," said Rudy.
Jogo Tonggo (neighborhood support) members at the community unit (RW) level are to report incoming travelers in their area to the city administration.
Jogo Tonggo is a program wherein community members enforce physical distancing, manage food supplies and help each other during the pandemic.
Rudy said health protocol offenders would undergo social penalties, such as spending one day in "quarantine" or cleaning the trenches surrounding Vastenburg Fortress.
The government previously decided to reduce the number of collective leave days for the year-end holiday, which included the deferred Idul Fitri leave.
Under the new arrangements, the country will have eight days off: from Dec. 24 to Dec. 27 for Christmas, Dec. 31 to replace the foregone Idul Fitri leave and from Jan. 1 to Jan. 3 for New Year.
National COVID-19 task force chief Doni Monardo has advised the public to remain at home during the year-end holidays, supposedly because of the potential for extreme weather over the next two to three weeks. (nkn)