Covid curbs relaxed in Bali

Bali, Sep 14 (IANS) The Indonesian government has decided to lower the level of the four-tiered restrictions on public activities on the country's resort island of Bali as the number of new Covid-19 cases is on a decline.During a live-streamed briefing on Monday evening, the country's Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Investment Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said that Bali can now lower its level of the restrictions from Level 4 to Level 3, reports Xinhua news agency.But Pandjaitan called on the public to keep following the health protocols after the relaxation.He also announced that the government has extended the restrictions on the islands of Java and Bali until September 20, which were previously set to end on September 13.The restriction policy was imposed following the surge in Covid-19 cases from June to July fuelled by the highly transmissible Delta variant.The number of Covid-19 cases in the country has increased to 4.1 million with the death toll reaching 139,165.To date, at least 42.1 million people in Indonesia have received two shots of vaccines, and 73.31 million have received the first doses.The Indonesian government is targeting to vaccinate 208.2 million people, about 80 per cent of the total population.
--IANS ksk/