Indonesia government raise travel alert of Singapore to Yellow in response heighting of DORSCON level

The Indonesian government has tightened its surveillance towards passengers travelling from Singapore to the country after the island-state reported confirmed cases of local human-to-human coronavirus transmissions.

Director General of Disease Prevention and Control of the Health Ministry Anung Sugihantono said last Wednesday that the country is keeping track of visitors from Singapore but not issuing any travel warning yet.

The status of travel alert for Singapore was raised to Yellow last Saturday in response to the development of the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in Singapore.

The government also appealed to Indonesians not to travel to the country.

The travel advisory issued by Indonesia, urged Indonesians who are travelling to Singapore to increase their awareness and take various steps to prevent transmission of the 2019-nCoV outbreak, such as: maintaining physical and psychological stamina, maintaining personal hygiene and the environment, routinely wash hands, wear masks, reduce activities outside the home, and avoid interactions with public crowds.

Last Friday (7 Feb), the Singapore Ministry of Health (MoH) increased its risk assessment of the Disease Outbreak Response System Condition (DORSCON) from yellow to orange.

This determination is based on the confirmation of additional 2019-nCoV-infected cases in Singapore as well as the fact that some cases of the infection are local that have no connection with previous cases or do not have a history of travel to China.

By setting the DORSCON indicator to an orange color, the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak has been categorized as a dangerous virus, additional measures will be undertaken by the Singapore government in handling and prevention to reduce the risk of further virus transmission.

Earlier on Tuesday (4 Feb), the Ministry of Health in Singapore announced a 44 year-old female Indonesian national who has no recent travel history to China as its 21st infected case. She is identified as the 19th case’s foreign domestic worker and said to be warded in an isolation room at the Singapore General Hospital.