JAKARTA: Indonesia will gradually reopen Bali for international tourists starting February 4, a much needed move to revive the resort island from the COVID-19 pandemic that battered its economy.

The government has also shortened the mandatory quarantine to five days from seven days to fully vaccinated travellers, despite a steady rise in COVID-19 cases in January.

However, travellers who have only received one dose still need to undergo seven-day quarantine.

"It is necessary to change the strategy in line with the high number of cases due to local transmission," Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said in a briefing.

The government is emphasising on reallocating quarantine facilities to prioritise domestic COVID-19 patients over travellers.

The world's fourth most populous nation reported 10,185 new Covid-19 cases today.

In mid-January, Health Ministry extrapolated that the infections caused by the Omicron variant in the country will reach its peak at the end of February.

-- BERNAMA