The Ministry Of Health Opens An Increase In The Number Of Omicron Cases In Indonesia Per Day This Sunday

Spokesperson for the COVID-19 Vaccination Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia Siti Nadia Tarmizi (Source: Ministry of Health)

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) stated that the number of positive confirmed cases of the Omicron variant has now increased to 46 cases in Indonesia since it was first discovered on December 16 to Sunday, December 26, 2021.

"Based on the results of the examination of specimens by the Agency for Research and Development, we have again identified 27 additional Omicron cases. Most of them are quarantined at Wisma Atlet and some at RSPI Sulianti Saroso," said the Ministry of Health's COVID-19 Vaccination Spokesperson Siti Nadia Tarmizi in a written statement, Sunday, December 26.

Nadia stated that the additional 27 cases mostly came from travelers and were obtained from the results of the Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) examination which was released on December 25, 2021.

With details, as many as 26 cases were imported, including 25 Indonesian citizens who had just returned from Malaysia, Kenya, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Malawi, Spain, England, Turkey and a foreign national from Nigeria. While one positive case is a health worker at the Wisma Atlet RSDC.

According to Nadia, the Omicron case was detected when international travelers arriving in Indonesia underwent a 10-day quarantine. Some cases were detected after they had served more than three days of quarantine.

"This shows the 10-day quarantine is the right duration to prevent patients with Omicron from infecting others outside the quarantine facility," he said.

Due to the large number of cases originating from international travellers, he emphasized that entry into the country through land, sea and air will be tightened along with the spread of the Omicron variant.

Nadia also appealed to the public not to or delay traveling abroad and to remain disciplined in carrying out health protocols to prevent Omicron transmission from becoming more widespread.