Responding To The Development Of Omicron In Indonesia, The Government Will Not Close The Doors For Arrivals Of Travelers From Overseas

A number of airplane passengers walk upon arrival at Terminal 2 Domestic Arrivals of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Tangerang, Banten (Photo: Fauzan/Antara)

JAKARTA - The Task Force for Handling COVID-19 appealed to the public to postpone traveling abroad if there was no urgent business.

"This is important considering that positive cases of Omicron variants have been found, due to community transmission", said the National Spokesperson for the COVID-19 Handling Task Force (Satgas), Wiku Adi Sasmito, at a press conference that was attended online in Jakarta, reported by Antara on Tuesday, January 5.

Wiku said that although the transmission was relatively small and hypothetically the Omicron variant had a low case fatality rate, response efforts were needed so that the current state of the national case, which had tended to be under control, could continue.

For this reason, things that can be done include delaying travel abroad if it is not in an urgent condition. "This aims to reduce the chances of people returning to bring the disease home and transmit it to fellow travelers and their families at home", said Wiku.

Wiku emphasizes that any act of delaying overseas travel can protect and save many people. "So I beg you once again to postpone his departure first abroad", he said.

Wiku reminded the public to again improve the discipline of health protocols in all lines of life, increasing the ratio of testing and tracing of close contacts in the community. Then the preparation of early anticipation of the readiness of health facilities.

On the other hand, responding to the development of the Omicron case, which continues to increase to date, Wiku said the government did not completely close the door to the arrival of foreign travelers, including Indonesian migrant workers, due to various considerations such as civil rights and diplomatic relations.

Wiku said the fact that the research published in 2021 using the proportion of imported cases per positive case or called a "trace rating" stated that the prohibition or restriction of foreign arrivals was a preventive measure that had the most impact on the stability of national economic conditions. However, the effectiveness of prevention efforts is relatively small.

This occurs when the range of "trace rating" figures is below one percent, or multiple positive cases appear more due to community transmission, not direct travelers.

With the current condition of Indonesia, with the majority of cases of the Omicron variant coming from overseas travelers, various efforts are deemed necessary to be carried out simultaneously and in layers.

"Starting from the outermost layer to the smallest elements in society, to keep the Omicron variant, it stops its journey at the arrival gate and during the quarantine process", said Wiku.