All domestic air, sea travel banned till early June

JAKARTA • Indonesia will temporarily ban domestic air and sea travel starting today, barring a few exceptions, to prevent further spread of the coronavirus.

The ban on air travel will be in place until June 1, the Transport Ministry's director-general of aviation Novie Riyanto Rahardjo said yesterday.

The ban on sea travel will be in place until June 8, said sea transportation director-general Agus Purnomo.

Cargo transportation is exempted from the ban, the officials said.

The restrictions come as Indonesia's ban on mudik - the annual tradition of people returning to their home villages during the Ramadan fasting month ahead of Hari Raya - takes effect today.

Health experts had warned that allowing millions in the world's biggest Muslim-majority country to return homes in towns and villages over Ramadan could accelerate the spread of Covid-19.

Last year, about 19.5 million people in the archipelago of more than 260 million made the journey home, the government said.

In a study last week, researchers at the University of Indonesia's public health faculty warned that if mudik were permitted, it could lead to a million infections by July on the most populous island of Java, home to Jakarta.

Without the exodus, that figure could be cut to 750,000 cases, the researchers said.

Indonesia yesterday reported 357 new coronavirus cases and another 12 deaths.

The country now has a total of 7,775 confirmed cases and 647 deaths from the coronavirus, Health Ministry official Achmad Yurianto said.

The number of patients who have recovered was 960, he said, adding that more than 48,600 people have been tested for the virus.

Indonesia's tally of coronavirus deaths is the highest in South-east Asia.

REUTERS