Omicron Transmits 136 Cases, Ministry Of Health Asks People Not To Be Selfish, Refrain From Abroad

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JAKARTA - The Ministry of Health asks the public to refrain from traveling abroad. This is because the number of Omicron cases in Indonesia continues to grow, even now the total has reached 136 people. This variant of the virus is carried by foreign travelers from a number of countries.

Spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarmizi revealed, the addition of 68 new cases on December 31, 2021, came from foreign travelers and 11 of them were foreigners. With the country of origin, the most arrivals are from Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and the United States.

Therefore, Nadia asked the public to refrain from traveling to countries with very high transmission of Omicron transmission.

"Don't be selfish, you must refrain from traveling to countries with very high transmission of COVID-19, such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States. We must work together to protect those closest to us from contracting COVID-19. Let's hold ourselves back," he said in a written statement received by VOI, Saturday, January 1.

In addition, Nadia said that of the 68 confirmed cases of omicron as of December 31, 2021, 29 people had no symptoms, 29 people were sick with mild symptoms, 1 person was sick with moderate symptoms, and 9 others were without information.

Based on WHO data from calculating the predicted increase in cases due to Omicron compared to Delta and taking into account the level of transmission and risk of severity, it is obtained that there is a possibility of a rapid increase in the addition of cases due to Omicron.

"However, this is accompanied by a lower rate of use of hospital or ICU beds compared to the Delta period," he said.

According to Nadia, the Omicron variant has a high transmission rate but with a low risk of serious illness. Even so, people still have to be vigilant because the situation can change quickly.

"Therefore, prevention and control efforts, as well as other mitigation efforts must continue," he said.