Health workers collect blood samples for COVID-19 testing in South Tangerang city, Indonesia, on May 14 (Photo: Xinhua/VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Indonesia is planning to reopen Bali totourists while Cambodia and Thailand have moved to increase border control toprevent further COVID-19 transmission.
Indonesia’s popular holiday destination Bali isexpected to resume tourism activities soon.
Minister of Tourism and Creative EconomyWishnutama Kusubandio said on May 28 that Bali is one of the Indonesianprovinces that could be allowed to reopen to international visitors.
Bali Vice Governor Tjokorda Oka Artha ArdanaSukawati also stated earlier that his province is ready to carry outrequirements to become a safe destination for foreign tourists after thepandemic.
The Nusa Dua area of Bali is set to be the pilotarea for the “new normal” scenario in the tourism sector as proposed by hoteland restaurant groups in the province.
Last week, the local administration discussedthis issue with tourism businesses and provincial agencies to issue new healthprotocols to ensure safety for travellers when tourism activities resume.
In Cambodia, Deputy Prime Minister and Ministerof Interior Sar Kheng asked the administration in localities that borderThailand to increase professional measures at border checkpoints to preventCambodian workers from entering Thailand, which will shut its border until June30 to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
He said on May 27 that border gates arecurrently closed, so illegal migration to Thailand must be prevented,especially when the neighbouring country is still in the state of emergency.
Meanwhile, the Japan International CooperationAgency (JICA), in cooperation with Phnom Penh City Bus (PPCB) Administrationand PPCB Authority, said they are implementing virus prevention measures andtraining staff to minimise the risk of virus infections for bus drivers andpassengers once operations resume.
The PPCB Authority also said it is planning toimpose regulations permitting a maximum of 20 passengers per bus in order toadhere to distancing guidelines. However, it doesn’t know when exactly thegovernment will allow operations to resume.
The Cambodian Government on May 26 decided torelax the ban on sports activities afterthe COVID-19 situation in the country had shown improvement.
In Thailand, the Padang Besar border checkpoint inSadao district of Songkhla province, which is adjacent to Malaysia, was closedagain on May 28 after local authorities had discovered some new COVID-19 casesamong Thais returning from overseas.
The Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration(CCSA) said some new patients returned from Saudi Arabia through Padang Besar.
Apart from Padang Besar, the Sadao checkpoint onthe Thailand-Malaysia border remains closed since April 23 for fear of virustransmission.
Thailand recorded 11 new COVID-19 cases on May28, the first double-digit increase in several weeks, raising the total to3,065. The numbers of recoveries and fatalities were 2,945 and 57,respectively.
The CCSA noted all the 11 new infections areThais returning from India, Qatar and Kuwait and are currently in quarantine,and there were no new locally-infected cases./.
VNA
