Indonesia will drop requirements for people to mask up outdoors and for vaccinated travellers to show negative pre-departure tests, officials said on Tuesday, as Covid-19 infections decline in the Southeast Asian country. “When people are doing outdoor activities, or in open areas that are not crowded with people, then they are allowed not to wear masks,” President Joko Widodo said in a televised address. But masks must still be worn indoors and on public transport, he said, also recommending the elderly and those with underlying health conditions or coughs continue to use them as well. The new mask rules take effect on Wednesday. Indonesia will also no longer require a negative pre-departure test for foreign and domestic travellers, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin told a news conference. The latest measures were part of the country’s transition to living with the virus, Sadikin said. In March, Indonesia lifted quarantine requirements for overseas visitors, joining a number of other countries in the region including Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia and the Philippines that have announced or already made such moves. Thailand, Indonesia plan to develop Covid-19 pill The country has largely recovered since an omicron-driven surge peaked at around 64,700 cases a day in mid-February. New confirmed daily infections have fallen to around 200, and about 80 per cent of the eligible population of 208 million has been fully vaccinated. The government has already lifted many restrictions on social mobility that have been in place for two years. The easing of pandemic restrictions in Indonesia follows countries like Singapore, South Korea and Malaysia which also dropped their outdoor mask mandates in recent weeks. Additional reporting Associated Press