The Indonesian government has drawn up a list of preventive measures following a new coronavirus variant that was discovered in the United Kingdom, says national COVID-19 task force chief Doni Monardo.

On Thursday, Doni said that Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Pandjaitan had conducted a ministerial meeting in the previous week to anticipate the new strain of the coronavirus, which has reportedly been detected in Australia and Singapore.

In the meeting, Luhut also invited epidemiologists to provide the government with insight and feedback regarding COVID-19 mitigation in the country.

The task force, Doni went on to say, had also attempted to reduce the chances of coronavirus transmission in the country by limiting entry for foreigners and Indonesians who departed from countries that had detected the new COVID-19 strain, including the UK.

“The government has started denying entry to British nationals, hopefully this can protect our people,” said Doni during Thursday’s virtual discussion entitled “Outlook 2021: Wajah Indonesia Setelah Pandemi” (What Indonesia will look like after the pandemic).

In regard to the new coronavirus strain, the task force has also released an addendum to task force Circular No. 3/2020 on travel health protocols for the Christmas and New Year holidays during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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