The March study of 2,100 people, conducted on Java, home to 150 million people, and Bali, the country's top tourism destination, revealed 99.2 percent of people had COVID antibodies, a 6 percentage point increase from a December, 2021, survey.

Pandu Riono, an epidemiologist at the University of Indonesia, which conducted the survey with the Health Ministry, on Monday told Reuters the antibody levels in the latest survey were higher due to a wider booster shot rollout, as recipients had stronger protection.

Indonesia's daily case numbers have decreased significantly since a spike in February driven by the Omicron variant. About 60 percent of the population of 270 million people have been vaccinated against COVID.

Pandu said the stronger antibodies might explain the faster rate at which Omicron variant infections had declined.

The December study, of 22,000 people, was conducted nationwide and showed 86 percent of Indonesians had antibodies.

The government has recently loosened many of its pandemic restrictions, including waiving quarantine for foreign tourists and lifting a two-year ban on the mudik (exodus) tradition during the Idul Fitri holiday season. 

Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said on Monday the survey was a factor in the government's assessment that the holiday "can go smoothly without bringing negative impacts on our people".

The government has also allowed Muslims to pray at public mosques without physical-distancing requirements or a limit on the number of worshipers allowed to gather at any one time.

The relaxation has led to a significant increase in public mobility, with people beginning to crowd shopping malls, restaurants and places of worship. National COVID-19 task force spokesperson Wiku Adi Sasmito said that as of March 30, public mobility had reached the highest level since the pandemic started. 

According to Statistics Indonesia (BPS) data, people’s movement around public parks increased by more than four times in March from the previous month, from 7.39 percent to 32.19 percent. 

Similar increases also occurred in offices, with mobility increasing from 6.23 to 6.57 percent, and in supermarkets, where mobility rose from 25.75 percent to 27.85 percent. 

Public mobility is expected to continue to rise until the Idul Fitri holiday, when millions of people are predicted to participate in mudik in early May. 

Authorities are expecting 85 million people to go on mudik, with some 14 million travelers set to leave Greater Jakarta alone. This figure is much higher than pre-pandemic levels, when some 30 million people participated in the annual tradition.

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