Peak Cases Of Omicron BA.4 And BA.5 In Indonesia, Minister Of Health Estimates: Maximum 25 Thousand Cases Per Day

JAKARTA - Minister of Health (Menkes) Budi Gunadi Sadikin estimates that the peak of cases of COVID-19 Omicron new variants BA.4 and BA.5 in Indonesia reaches 25.000 cases per day.

The Minister of Health said this was based on his monitoring of the development of the variant in other countries.

"We believe that later there will be an increase of maybe a maximum of 25 thousand per day," said the Minister of Health in an online statement, on the sidelines of the State Welcoming Ceremony of the President of the Federal Republic of Germany, at the Bogor Palace, West Java, quoted from Antara, Thursday, June 16.

He explained, in South Africa as the first country to identify the new variant of COVID-19, the peak of BA.4 and BA.5 cases was only a third of the peak of the previous Omicron or Delta variant of COVID-19 cases.

So if at the peak of the previous Delta and Omicron variants in Indonesia there were 60.000 cases per day, it is estimated that the peak of the new Omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5 will only reach 20.000-25.000 cases per day.

He said the peak of cases usually occurs one month after the first case is identified. In this case, it is estimated that the peak of BA.4 and BA.5 cases in Indonesia is likely to occur in the third and fourth weeks of July 2022.

"After that it will come back down," he explained.

In addition he said that the mortality rate of this new variant is much lower, which is only one-twelfth or one-tenth of the Delta and Omicron.