Towards The End Of The Year, Confirmed Cases Of Omicron Variant In Indonesia Increase To 46 Cases

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Health has again reported the findings of a new case of Omicron in Indonesia.

A spokesperson for Vaccination of the Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarmizi said there were 27 additional confirmed cases of Omicron, most of which came from international travelers.

The findings come from the results of the WGS examination by the Litbangkes Agency which was released on December 25, 2021. A total of 26 cases were imported cases, including 25 Indonesian citizens who recently returned from Malaysia, Kenya, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Malawi, Spain, England, Turkey, and 1 foreign national from Nigeria. Meanwhile, one positive case is a health worker at the Wisma Atlet RSDC.

"Based on the results of the examination of specimens by the Research and Development Agency, we again identified 27 additional Omicron cases. Currently, most of them have been quarantined at Wisma Athletes and partly at RSPI Sulianti Saroso," said spokesperson Nadia, quoted from the Ministry of Health's website, Monday, December 27.

With these additional cases, the total number of confirmed cases of Omicron in Indonesia has reached 46 since it was first reported on December 16.

The Omicron case was detected when international travelers arrived in Indonesia and underwent a 10-day quarantine. Some cases were detected after they had served more than three days in quarantine. This shows the 10-day quarantine is the right duration to prevent patients with Omicron from infecting others outside the quarantine facility.

Previously, the Ministry of Health confirmed the first case of Omicron on December 15, 2021, which attacked a janitor at the Wisma Atlet RSDC.

On December 17, from the results of the examination of 5 probable cases, 2 cases, namely Indonesian citizens from the UK and the United States were confirmed positive.

Then on December 22, the Ministry of Health again recorded an additional 2 new cases of Omicron

On December 23, there were an additional 3 new cases originating from Indonesian citizens who had recently returned from Malaysia and the Congo.

Furthermore, on December 24, the Ministry of Health again identified 11 additional cases of travelers from Turkey, Japan, South Korea, and Saudi Arabia.

The Ministry of Health noted that the majority of Omicron cases detected in Indonesia came from imported cases. Therefore, the entry gate of the country, both land, sea, and air, is tightened as the Omicron variant expands.

Nadia's spokesperson appealed to the public not to or delay traveling abroad. He also advised the entire community to remain disciplined in implementing the 5M health protocol and immediately participate in the COVID-19 vaccination.

Corona Virus Hotline 119 ext 9. This news was broadcast by the Bureau of Communications and Public Services, Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia. For further information, please contact the Halo Ministry of Health hotline number via hotline 1500-567, SMS 081281562620, facsimile (021) 5223002, 52921669, and email address contact@kemkes.go.id (MF/NI)