PDIP-PKS Compactly Asks The Government To Reflect On The Delta Case To Face The Omicron Surge In Early February
JAKARTA - The government predicts the peak of the wave of Omicron cases will occur in early February. Reflecting on other countries, the spike in cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 occurred about 40 days after the first case was discovered.
Regarding this information, legislators and the PDIP and PKS compactly warned the government to reflect on the handling of the Delta variant in the middle of last year. PDIP-PKS also reminded to tighten health protocols to accelerate the distribution of vaccinations nationally for stage 1, stage 2, and booster.
Member of Commission IX of the DPR from the PDIP faction, Rahmad Handoyo, reminded all parties not to ignore strict health protocols in anticipation of the transmission of this variant.
"I think that what was conveyed regarding the potential for February to have an Omicron peak, we should not ignore it, we must be serious and prepare well so that this case does not happen," said Rahmad to VOI, Wednesday, January 12.
However, continued Rahmad, Indonesia must also look in the mirror from other countries where in two weeks the global transmission of the Omicron variant was very fast.
"While in Indonesia there has also been local transmission, which is even more difficult for us to detect and control if we ignore the health procedures and don't take Omicron something serious," he said.
In order to avoid an explosion of cases like the Delta variant in the middle of last year, the PDIP politician believes that the government must intensify communication, education and information to the public that Omicron is real globally.
"We also look to the Omicron-majority countries such as the US, India, etc. so that we can be more careful. We can't bargain for the Prokes to be effective," said Rahmad.
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Even though Omicron infects people who have been vaccinated, Rahmad added, the vaccination program must be successful. Especially those who have not vaccinated stage one.
"We must also push for a second vaccine, including booster injections to be accelerated, especially for the elderly," he said.
Rahmad said that Commission IX of the DPR has encouraged the government to prepare for something bad if the Omicron case explodes. One of them is to prepare drugs and oxygen. Although this has been done, it must be remembered that any country will not be able to provide health facilities when its citizens are sick.
"In the eyes of other countries, when Omicron exploded, the hospital was also full, it doesn't mean that OTG is physically strong, but when it infects our elderly relatives and then infects us who are comorbid, we must be vigilant. That's why we keep this in mind. , exploded, it is difficult for us to prepare health facilities," he explained.
"For this reason, the fixed price cannot be negotiated because Omicron is already dominating, let alone a lot of OTG, that is, don't just rely on data. We should be wary of the possibility that Omicron has spread a lot and has a lot of OTG. But don't panic, we will remain vigilant," said Rahmad.
Similarly, Member of Commission IX of the DPR RI, the PKS faction, Netty Prasetiyani, also asked the government to evaluate the handling of the previous Delta wave.
"Reflecting on the Delta tsunami waves a few months ago, I hope that the government will be able to evaluate the policies for handling the pandemic at that time. Our health systems and facilities are 'oversized', many health workers have died," said Netty to reporters, Wednesday, January 12.
Netty assessed that at this time there had been a lot of easing of prokes. According to him, the government needs to move quickly to tighten supervision of the process.
"Currently, we see the easing of health procedures happening everywhere. Mobility and community activities are almost back to normal as before the pandemic," said Netty.
"The government should, through the task force, move quickly to re-tighten the campaign and supervision of the 3M/5M process. In addition, 3T surveillance; testing, tracing, and treatment must be prepared to anticipate the worst situation," he continued.
In addition, the acceleration of vaccine doses 1 and 2 is also said to be necessary. Because according to him there are still many areas where the percentage of vaccines has not reached 70 percent.
"No less important, the government must accelerate the implementation of the first and second doses of vaccination before the booster is carried out massively. There are still many areas that have not reached 70 percent, such as West Sulawesi, Maluku, West Sumatra, Papua and West Papua," he added.
Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan predicts that the peak of the third wave of COVID-19 due to the Omicron variant will occur in early February 2022.
Luhut said this was predicted based on observations from the surge in cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 that occurred in other countries, which was about 40 days after the first case was discovered. The transmission of the Omicron, he said, was faster than the Delta variant.
"We estimate the peak of the wave because the Omicron will occur in early February," Luhut said in a video recording, Tuesday, January 11.
Luhut believes that most Omicron cases will have mild symptoms, so the treatment strategy is different from the Delta variant.
He said, Indonesia is now much more prepared to face the potential wave of the Omicron variant.
This is because the COVID-19 vaccination rate is already higher and our testing and tracing capacity is much higher.
"Our health system is also better prepared, both in terms of medicines (including molnupiravir from Merck), hospital beds, health workers, oxygen, and centralized isolation facilities," he said.
For additional information, the Minister of Health of the Republic of Indonesia Budi Gunadi Sadikin warned that the number of cases of the Omicron variant in Indonesia is predicted to be higher than the Delta variant.
"The increase in Omicron transmission will be much higher than Delta, but fewer are being treated," said Minister of Health Budi Gunadi, quoted from the official Ministry of Health website, Tuesday, January 11.