The COVID-19 Situation Is Still Under Control, But You Must Remain Vigilant About Omicron With Prokes

JAKARTA - Spokesperson for the COVID-19 Vaccination of the Indonesian Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, emphasized that the COVID-19 pandemic situation in Indonesia is still under control, even though it is close to the Christmas holidays and the end of the year.

"We hope that there will be no additional additions at the end of the year or the beginning of 2022. We must maintain this good trend," Nadia said in a PPKM Press Release quoted by Antara, Friday, December 24.

Nadia said the situation was still under control until now, it can be seen from the national situation where there was a decline in cases of four percent with a weekly total of 1,401 new cases.

There was also a decrease in the number of weekly deaths by four percent when compared to the previous week.

The current controlled situation, he said, could also be seen from Indonesia's testing rate, which was carried out at 5.01 per 1,000 inhabitants per week, with a weekly positivity rate of 0.1 percent. With 34 provinces monitored also have a positivity rate below 2 percent.

"We can also maintain the use of COVID-19 treatment facilities, including the ICU, at a safe level," said Nadia.

According to Nadia, bed occupancy (BOR) in hospitals is still under control, because 34 provinces have BOR below 20 percent.

As of December 23, 2021, Indonesia has recorded 4,261,208 positive cases of COVID-19 with the number of deaths reaching 144,042 people, and active cases in 4,642 people.

Nadia emphasized that the government will continue to strive for surveillance, contact tracing and of course vaccinations to be aware that a third wave will appear along with the expansion of the new variant of Omicron.

Although the government continues to make efforts and the situation is under control, he highlighted that there are still regencies/cities that do not comply with health protocols, such as the use of masks, which also see an increasing trend of cases due to high mobility. In fact, soon will enter the Christmas and New Year holidays.

Therefore, in order to keep the pandemic under control and prevent transmission due to Omicron, the Ministry of Health asks all parties to continue to be disciplined in carrying out health protocols as well as immediately vaccinating so that group immunity is immediately formed in the face of COVID-19.

"Let's remind each other how important it is to use masks and other health protocols in preventing the transmission of COVID-19," said Nadia.