Timor-Leste said it would bar all people coming from Indonesia for 72 hours from Wednesday night, whether by road, air, or sea.

“The main concern with an open border is the continues illegal crossing,” Vice Minister of Interior Antonio Armindo said.

The border review comes amid increasing concern among Timor-Leste officials about the Delta variant and potential transfer from Indonesia.

Indonesian health officials have reported sizeable increases in COVID-19 cases of up to 50,000 a day and deaths, with outbreaks occurring in all 34 provinces.

National Parliament announced Tuesday renews to Timor-Leste’s state of emergency for another 30 days.

On the same day the Integrated Centre for Crisis Management (IGC) reported that six cases of COVID-19 had been identified in the country with 45 recoveries in the same day bringing the total caseload to 656.

So far over 35% of Timor-Leste’s adult population have been vaccinated with one vaccine and 10.6% are fully vaccinated.