Luhut Reminds People Not To Panic After The First Case Of COVID-19 Omicron Variant Was Found In Indonesia

JAKARTA - Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, asked the public not to panic after the discovery of the first COVID-19 case of the Omicron variant in the country.

This request was conveyed through his spokesman, Jodi Mahardi. He said, the public does not need to panic but must remain vigilant by implementing strict health protocols.

"The Coordinating Minister hopes that the public will not panic with the discovery of this first case. The Coordinating Minister urges the public to remain vigilant and apply good health protocols", said Jodi in a written statement, Thursday, December 16.

He said the government was currently trying to suppress the spread of the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 case. Including, trying to ensure that the number of patients in the hospital and the number of deaths due to variants does not increase drastically.

The way, continued Jodi, is by accelerating vaccine achievement to 100 percent and asking the public to continue to implement health protocols.

According to him, this step was taken because from the beginning the government realized that Indonesia is a large country, so the possibility of entering the Omicron variant is very large.

"Mr. Coordinating Minister said that it is a bit difficult to get zero cases, but we are pressing for zero hospitalization and death cases due to Omicron in Indonesia", he said.

As previously reported, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has also asked the public not to panic in response to the entry of the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 that has entered the country.

This was conveyed through a video description that was shown on the Presidential Secretariat's YouTube. The statement was uploaded after Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin announced the discovery of a positive case of COVID-19, the Omicron variant.

"It is important to be vigilant but don't let this development make us panic. So far the Omicron variant has not shown any character that endangers the lives of patients, especially patients who have received the vaccine", Jokowi said in his statement, Thursday, December 16.

He then asked the public to immediately get the COVID-19 vaccine. Especially for those who have never been vaccinated to avoid the danger of transmitting the virus.

Not only that, Jokowi asked the public to continue implementing health protocols. Everyone is asked to wear a mask, keep a distance, and wash their hands frequently to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Meanwhile, for the regional government, the former Governor of DKI Jakarta requested that testing and tracing continue to be intensified. The goal is to suppress the spread of this Omicron variant. For information, a janitor at Wisma Atlet tested positive for COVID-19 on December 8. From these results, he is said to have contracted the virus with the Omicron variant.

In addition to these cleaners, there were actually two other people who also underwent tests after being tested positive for COVID-19. However, both of them were not exposed to the new variant.