Luhut Claims There Has Been No Increase In Cases Even Though Omicron Has Entered Indonesia

JAKARTA - Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said that currently there has not been an increase in COVID-19 cases even though the Omicron variant has been detected in Indonesia.

Since the decline in cases due to the second wave caused by the Delta variant in the middle of this year, Luhut said COVID-19 cases were still at a low level.

"It has been 164 days that cases have remained low, since the peak of cases of the Delta variant on July 15 and so far there has been no indication of an increase in cases due to the Omicron wave," Luhut said in a virtual press conference, Monday, December 27.

However, Luhut said the government remains cautious and alert. Monitoring of COVID-19 data is carried out strictly up to the district/city level to be able to consider the policy of tightening community activities.

"The tightening of community activities will only be carried out when it exceeds a certain threshold, taking into account not only daily cases but also cases of hospitalization and death," said Luhut.

To date, the confirmed cases of Omicron in Indonesia have reached 46 cases and almost all of them are foreign travelers from various countries. Meanwhile, the rest are officers at the Wisma Atlet.

Therefore, Luhut reminded the public not to travel abroad if not for something that has urgency. Luhut suggested that people take a vacation in the country.

"If you just want a vacation, go to various tourist attractions in domestic. Apart from being safer from Omicron attacks, domestic tourist attractions are no less beautiful than tourist attractions abroad. Vacations in the country will also help accelerate the recovery of the domestic economy," he explained.