Indonesia Scraps Year-End Covid Curbs as Vaccination Rate Improves

(Bloomberg) -- Indonesia canceled its planned restrictions for the year-end period as its Covid-19 vaccination coverage and testing capacity have improved.

The government won't impose the second-highest level of restrictions, or level 3, across the country and will instead order varied curbs depending on the local situation, Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Investment Affairs Luhut Panjaitan, who's overseeing the pandemic response, said in a statement. Travel is limited to those who are fully vaccinated.

Indonesia had ordered the restrictions as previous holiday seasons have led to spikes in Covid-19 cases. It had previously told governors to stop all workers, including private-sector employees, from taking leave from Dec. 24 through Jan. 2 and urged schools to cancel their year-end break. 

The country's vaccination coverage remains relatively low, with about 53% of people receiving at least the first dose and 37% fully inoculated. Case numbers are hovering near the lowest in more than a year with fewer than 10 fatalities in the last four days. The government has ramped up testing to keep the positivity rate, the proportion of those tested who turn out to have been infected with the coronavirus, at 0.2%. That's much lower than the World Health Organization recommendation for the rate to be below 5%.

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