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"Foreigners [visiting] for Health and humanitarian purposes, such as doctors for the COVID-19
response, lab workers and humanitarian workers, are:still allowed to enter," Yasonna explained.
He said the new rule would come into effect on Saturday, two days after the relevant ministerial
regulation was signed. Ke . Additionally, those allowed to enter the country must ensure that
they obtain recommendation letters from the relevant authorities and fulfill existing entry
reguirements, such as providing proof of COVID-19 vaccination and negative reverse-
transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test results, as well as undergoing the
mandatory eightday quarantine period.

The entry ban for: foreigners had been a topic of growing debate, with the government drawing
public criticism early this month for allowing dozens of workers from mainland China to enter the
country shortly after emergency public activity restrictions (PPKM Darurat) were put inplace.

Immigration authorities reportedly confirmed that 20 Chinese nationals arrived in Makassar,
South Sulawesi to begin workon some national strategic projects.
Their entry came amid separate reports elsewhere that have suggested that Indonesia was
importing COVID-19 infections from returning migrant workers, at a time when cases in Java
and Bali began. to surge at alarming rates.

In its response to this issue, the Chinese Embassy in Jakarta suggested that the visits were still
allowed under the prevailing regulations at the time, and that Indonesia had yet to suspend
interna-, tional flights'and visa issuance due to the surge in COVID-19 cases.

"China has been Indonesia's largest trading partner for eight years and Indonesia's secondlargest
source of foreign directinvestment for two. Close economic and trade cooperation will naturally
lead to.an active exchange of personnel," an embassy spokesperson recently said.

There are currently more than 200 national strategic projects across the country, including ones
that employ foreign labor, such as Nickel miner PT Huadi NickelAlloy Indonesia, 'whose, smelter
in Bantaeng, South Sulawesi is a project where 20 Chinese nationals work.

Over the past few weeks, the number of COVID-19 casesin Indonesia has grown. exponentially,
turning it into Asia's newest virus epicenter. The nation surpassed 3 million confirmed dases on
Thursday and posted another record-breaking 1,449' coronavirus-related deaths. It is also
coming close again to 50,000 new daily infections.

Epidemiologists have warned about the short-lived downward trend that President Joko "Jokowi"
Widodo touted on Tuesday, saying that it could be attributed to lower testing over the weekend
leading up to the Idul Adha holiday.

Aplanned easing of nationwide restrictions next week is unlikely to result in a relaxation ofthe
entry ban, at least until the government can get the outbreak under control.

Several countries and territories have already placed Indonesia on their travel ban lists, including
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Taiwan and Hong Kong, as well as neighboring
countries like the Philippines.

On Monday, Brunei announced that approvals on the entry for foreign nationals departing from
or through Indonesia are temporarily suspended, according to the Borneo. Bulletin. The country
detected eight new imported COVID-19 cases on Sunday.

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