(Fighting against New Coronary Pneumonia) A total of more than 5.9 million confirmed cases in Indonesia Officials said they were evaluating the country's "entry-free quarantine"

  China News Agency, Jakarta, March 14 (Reporter Lin Yongchuan) Indonesian officials announced on the afternoon of the 14th that 9,629 new confirmed cases of new crown were added in the country in the past 24 hours, and the cumulative number of confirmed cases exceeded 5.9 million, reaching 5,900,124; 271 new deaths , with a total of 152,437 deaths.

  This is the first time since the beginning of February this year that the number of newly confirmed cases in a single day has dropped to less than 10,000, and its daily increase has been declining for a week in a row.

  On the same day, Indonesia's Coordinating Minister of Oceans and Investment Luhut said through an online press conference that the government is evaluating whether to implement the "entry-free quarantine" policy nationwide.

  Luhut, who is also vice-chairman of Indonesia's National Commission for COVID-19 Prevention and Economic Recovery, said that Bali's data over the past week showed a rapid increase in foreign tourists, but the positivity rate for the new crown remained below 1 percent.

The Indonesian government began to implement the "entry-free quarantine" policy in the tourist resort Bali on the 7th of this month, and implemented a visa-on-arrival policy for tourists from 23 countries and regions.

  Luhut said the opening of visas on arrival could also increase the number of foreign tourists.

The Indonesian government may expand the scope of application of visas on arrival in places such as Jakarta and Surabaya, especially for countries with huge tourist demand and G20 countries.

  Indonesian Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga also informed that since the travel requirements for antigen testing and nucleic acid testing were cancelled on the 8th of this month, the number of domestic tourists has increased by 25% to 35%.

  The above-mentioned two officials emphasized that relaxing travel and entry requirements is not a relaxation of epidemic prevention and hygiene regulations. They reminded travelers to strictly abide by regulations such as wearing masks, washing hands frequently, not gathering, and maintaining social distance.

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