Jakarta blocks entry to several African nations' nationals

Indonesia announced a travel ban on foreign citizens from several southern African nations on Sunday, in a bid to curb the spread of the new omicron variant of the coronavirus.

A government official said foreign nationals who had been in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Mozambique, Eswatini, Malawi, Angola, Zambia or Hong Kong in the past 14 days would be denied entry into the country and the quarantine period for all those who arrive in Indonesia from abroad would be increased from three to seven days.