First Omicron Case Found In Indonesia, PDIP Legislator: No Need To Panic, No Homecoming

JAKARTA - The new variant of COVID-19, Omicron, has been confirmed to have entered Indonesia. The government has officially announced that a patient with the initials N has been detected with the virus.

Responding to this, Member of Commission IX of the DPR from the PDIP faction, Rahmad Handoyo, said this finding should be a concern for all Indonesian citizens that the Omicron variant is a fact.

"The first attitude, of course, is that we don't need to panic, we don't need to panic, but after we find this we must increase our vigilance, increase our strength, our mutual cooperation to deal with it. By obeying the rules set by the government," said Rahmad to VOI, Thursday, 16 December.

"And improve health protocols, it should not be negotiated anywhere, all citizens to continue to carry out (prokes, ed)," he continued.

As is known, continued the PDIP Legislator for the Central Java constituency, based on the opinions of observers and epidemiologists, the Omicron variant spreads faster than the Delta variant. Although, the results of the study have not yet determined how big the fatality rate is.

"We don't know for sure yet, but we forget about it, we want it to be more dangerous, the faster the transmission will be, we absolutely must do health protocols, it binds all Indonesian people," said Rahmad.

Furthermore, said Rahmad, because scientifically vaccines can increase body immunity, the government and the public are encouraged to make the first and second stages of the vaccination program a success. "And maybe next year we have to make the booster a success," explained Rahmad.

Besides that, added Rahmad, in welcoming the Christmas and New Year's 2022 holidays, there is no need for excessive euphoria even though the current situation is sloping.

"We must not be careless at all, even after the discovery of Omicron we increase our vigilance, should not celebrate Nataru excessively. Even my advice, do not do activities that have high mobility, reduce crowds and it's better to stay at home, do activities in the city, don't go home for the sake of the safety of all of us," said Rahmad Handoyo.

Previously, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin announced the first case of the Omicron variant. It was the cleaning staff at Wisma Atlet who tested positive for COVID-19 on December 8, 2021. The patient who was exposed to Omicron was said to have no symptoms of COVID-19 at all.

"This person is asymptomatic and they are still healthy, no cough, no fever," explained the Minister of Health at a press conference Thursday, December 16.

Minister of Health said, previously, there were three people who were tested. However, two of them were not confirmed to have COVID-19 Omicron.

"So again, there were three cleaning workers at Wisma Atlet on the 8th the PCR test was positive, the 10th was sent to Balitbangkes for genome sequencing, on the 15th the WGS results came out from these three people, one was Omicron, two were not Omicron, " said the Minister of Health.

The three people are currently being quarantined at the Wisma Atlet and have been tested for COVID-19 for the second time with negative PCR results.