Indonesia to use bubble protocol at G-20 in Bali to curb virus

Indonesia will group conference participants into four "bubbles" at the Group of 20 (G-20) meetings it is hosting in Bali later this year, to minimise any spread of Covid-19.

Participants will limit interactions to within their respective bubbles, said the Health Ministry on Friday.

Bubble 1 will consist of delegates and their entourage and VVIPs; Bubble 2, guests and journalists; Bubble 3, officials, organising committee; and Bubble 4, supporting personnel such as technicians.

The bubble protocol will essentially be a travel corridor that will separate those involved in the summit from the public at hotels, venues and other supporting facilities for every event or meeting during and leading up to the 2022 G-20 summit in Bali.

The protocols will apply from the point G-20 participants depart their home country until they leave Indonesia, Dr Siti Nadia Tarmizi, a Health Ministry spokesman, said in a statement.

The ministry also announced that the summit will be pushed back to Nov 15-16, instead of being held in October as originally planned.

Indonesia - which assumed the one-year G-20 presidency last December, taking over from Italy - hopes to get countries to work together to achieve a stronger and more sustainable world recovery from Covid-19. It has themed its presidency Recover Together, Recover Stronger.

The G-20 comprises 19 major advanced and emerging economies and the European Union.

Singapore is not a G-20 member but has been invited to attend the November summit. It was similarly invited to many past G-20 summits and related meetings as the convener of the Global Governance Group, which is an informal grouping of 30 small and medium-sized members of the United Nations.

Participants arriving in Indonesia must be fully vaccinated, with the second shot at least 14 days prior to departure. They must also show a negative polymerase chain reaction test taken within three days of departure and insurance that covers medical treatment of up to US$25,000 (S$33,800).

Meanwhile, Indonesia is considering allowing quarantine-free travel earlier than expected - probably starting in the second or third week of March - as Covid-19 cases trend downwards around the vast archipelago. The government had previously indicated that the country would open to quarantine-free travel on April 1.

Travellers currently serve five days of quarantine, but this will be cut to three days from March 1.

The country's flag carrier - Garuda Indonesia - and Singapore Airlines (SIA) have resumed flights to Bali. Garuda has been flying to and from Tokyo since Feb 3 and SIA has been doing so to and from Singapore since Feb 16.

Indonesia recorded 258 Covid-19 deaths yesterday, bringing the total to 147,844. The country has a total of 5.5 million Covid-19 cases, with 46,653 reported yesterday.