International passengers walk through the health examination area at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport on Sept. 5, 2024, in Badung, Bali. The airport's health quarantine center is intensifying health surveillance amid the HMPV outbreak. - Photo: Antara file
JAKARTA: The authorities in Bali are monitoring foreign arrivals, particularly from China and Malaysia, amid concern over the human metapneumoniavirus (HMPV) outbreak.
The Denpasar port health office (KKP) has started requiring passengers from China and Malaysia to fill out a Satu Sehat Health Pass (SSHP) three days before their arrival to the island to record passengers’ health issues such as high body temperature or cold or flu symptoms.
“Airlines from China and Malaysia need our special attention, though we have yet to implement health protocols,” Denpasar KKP head Anak Agung Ngurah Kesumajaya said on Monday (Jan 6), as quoted by detikBali.
More than 1.18 million Chinese tourists came to Bali in 2019, second only to Australia at 1.2 million, according to Statistics Indonesia (BPS).
In 2023, China was the third largest contributor of foreign tourists to Bali, with over 280,111 tourist visits, far below Australia and India, which contributed 1.32 million and 440,415 tourist visits, respectively.
China has reported an uptick in HMPV cases in recent weeks, but said this was part of the seasonal trend of a rise in respiratory diseases.
The Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry has said that the disease appears to be less severe and is spreading on a smaller scale compared to previous years.
The SSHP can be accessed through available barcodes and at the entrance terminal at the international airport, where officers will oversee compliance.
It can also be filled out during boarding before flying to Bali. “We have coordinated with airlines to ensure that passengers fill out [the SSHP] before going to Bali. So that we can monitor if there are [passengers] whose conditions are in the red [zone] so we can catch [them],” Kesumajaya said.
The Bali authority has installed three thermal scanners at the airport’s international entrance.
Passengers with body temperature above 38 degrees Celsius will be directed to a quarantine clinic at the airport for a medical check.
The clinic is equipped with a small laboratory to analyze saliva swab tests. Kesumajaya added that the airport had received a rapid molecular testing instrument to detect the virus.
In addition, local authorities have readied three referral hospitals, which include Prof. Ngoerah Hospital, Bali Mandara Hospital and Siloam Hospital for any passengers who test positive for HMPV.
Kesumajaya asserted that not a single case of HMPV had yet been detected in Bali. Nevertheless, he urged airport officials and passengers to wear masks when sick.
“The information [we received] is that in China [the virus] has spread. Malaysia may have also detected hundreds. We continue to monitor this,” he said.
He noted that a total of 1,100 passengers from China and 2,500 passengers from Malaysia land in Bali per day.
The Indonesian Healthy Ministry also assured that it has yet to detect an HMPV infection in the country, but it has started to monitor the spread in China and a handful of other countries.
People with HMPV exhibit symptoms similar to a common cold or influenza in mild cases while severe infections can lead to bronchitis and pneumonia.
The virus is not typically fatal in adults, but it poses serious health risks in immunocompromised individuals and people with weaker immune systems, including children and the elderly. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
