When the number of Covid-19 cases starts decreasing, most countries would think about opening the borders to help their tourism industry.
However, plans can also change depending on the Covid-19 situation within the countries involved.
Channel NewsAsia (CNA) reported on Thursday (7 Oct) that Indonesia has decided to halt their Batam and Bintan travel corridor with Singapore.
Riau Island’s Governor, Ansar Ahmad, revealed that Singapore’s surge in Covid-19 cases was taken into consideration when making the decision.
Indonesia confirmed the cancellation of their travel corridor with Singapore on Wednesday (6 Oct).
According to Antara News, Governor Ansar confirmed that the cancellation was caused by the recent rise in Singapore’s Covid-19 cases.
Last month, he had mentioned that Riau Islands would be opened to fully vaccinated tourists from Singapore in October.
However, this is not the first time the travel corridor has been halted. The plans were also put on hold in mid-July when Indonesia was experiencing its 2nd Covid-19 wave.
The travel corridor was first discussed in March to bring tourists from Singapore to Riau Islands’ Batam Nongsa and Bintan Lagoi.
Both countries also wanted to ensure the safety of their people while executing the travel corridor. Hence, they decided to open it only when the Covid-19 situation is under control.
Though Indonesia still has a high number of cases, Riau Islands is considered to be safer due to the low risk as there are fewer infected cases.
Though it is a pity that the corridor will not be able to open yet, the safety of the people is still more important.
Hopefully, Singapore will be able to reduce the number of Covid-19 cases and stabilise the situation soon.
Let us all do our part in adhering to safety measures so as to prevent the spread of the virus.
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Featured image adapted from Google Maps.
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