Most Omicron Import Cases Mostly From Saudi Arabia And Turkey

JAKARTA - Director of Prevention and Control of Directly Infectious Diseases of the Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, said that the most cases of COVID-19 of the Omicron variant brought by foreign travelers (PPLN) to Indonesia were from Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

"The highest Omicron case, if we look at the PPLN, is Saudi Arabia. The second is Turkey, which is usually dominated by tourists," said Nadia in a virtual discussion broadcast on Youtube Katadata Indonesia, Tuesday, January 18.

Furthermore, other countries that are also the origin of the Omicron case for travelers entering Indonesia are the United States, Malaysia, and the United Arab Emirates.

Since the first finding of cases on December 15, 2021 until January 17, 2022, the Ministry of Health noted that there have been 840 positive cases of Omicron in Indonesia.

The majority of Omicron cases, as many as 509 cases were foreign travelers and 174 cases were transmitted through local transmission.

"Along with the increase in foreign travel agents, of course there will be an increase in the number of Omicron variants from foreign travelers," said Nadia.

Then, there are 57 more cases that are being investigated for epidemiology. This is to ensure that cases fall into the category of PPLN or local transmission.

Nadia revealed, 79 percent of the total Omicron cases were people who had been vaccinated with a complete dose or two doses. Thus, the majority of cases when exposed to Omicron had mild or no symptoms.

"We see that people who have been vaccinated are infected with Omicron, it appears that the symptoms are lighter because of the status of the existing vaccine," she added.