Coronavirus: as Omicron spikes in Indonesia, is Bali reopening to foreign tourists too soon?

A third wave of infections is sweeping the nation, but Jakarta is sticking to its decision to reopen the resort island, likening it to a pilot scheme in living with the virus

Despite Bali’s high vaccination rates, and Omicron’s low hospitalisation rates, some experts say the move is high risk. Tourism figures argue there is no perfect time

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Tourists at a beach in Canggu, Bali. Photo: EPA

Published: 7:30pm, 8 Feb 2022Updated: 7:51pm, 8 Feb 2022

Indonesia is sticking to its decision to open the resort island of Bali to foreign tourists despite a spike in Covid-19 cases, saying the move will boost the national economy and set an example to the rest of the country in how to live with the disease.

Jakarta’s decision to open direct international flights to Bali, starting from February 4, was taken amid an Omicron-driven third wave of infections.

There were 37,492 new cases reported across the nation on Tuesday, the highest daily increase since August. The bed occupancy rate at hospitals in Jakarta has reached 63 per cent, up from 45 per cent last month.

On Monday, the government placed the Greater Jakarta Area, Bali, Yogyakarta, and the city of Bandung in West Java on the second-highest level of social restrictions. These will require malls and restaurants to operate at 60 per cent capacity and places of worship at 50 per cent.

However, officials have repeatedly hinted that they will not implement further restrictions in Java, Bali, and other islands because they deem the country to be more prepared than it was last summer, when the Delta variant spread across the archipelago and brought the health system to its knees.

Also on Monday, the government backtracked on its earlier statement that foreign tourists would not be allowed to land at Jakarta’s main Soekarno-Hatta airport. It clarified that tourists could enter the country via airports in either Jakarta or Bali as well as via Batam and Tanjung Pinang in the Riau Islands, where a travel bubble with Singapore is in operation.