The Government Will Implement Micro Lockdown If There Is Local Transmission Of The Omicron Variant

JAKARTA - Maritime Affairs and Investment Coordinator Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said the government would implement a regional quarantine or lockdown on a small or micro scale if there was a local transmission of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

This is based on the experience of the lockdown that was carried out at the Athlete's House after the Omicron case was detected which infected the cleaning staff there.

"Lockdown measures at the micro-level, such as the one at Wisma Atlet, can be implemented if local transmissions of the Omicron variant have been detected," Luhut said in a virtual press conference, Monday, December 27.

Luhut said that once the government locked down the Wisma Atlet, the transmission of the Omicron variant did not seem to be growing anywhere.

However, Luhut could not confirm whether the Omicron transmission only occurred at the Athlete's House or had spread to other areas.

"We still don't know if anyone escaped from there. Because yesterday it turned out that one person escaped, from there because he went with his family and we hope this will not happen again," 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 Athlete's House.

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.