Luhut: Indonesia Is On Standby For Omicron When Hospital Occupancy Reaches 30 Percent

ILLUSTRA TION BY VOI

JAKARTA - Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said the Indonesian government would enter a high alert state when the hospital occupancy rate reached 20-30 percent.

Therefore, the government will closely monitor the development of the Omicron case in the country and immediately take the necessary anticipatory steps.

"Hospital care will be one of the main indicators. We will be on high alert when the BOR (Bed Occupancy Ratio) approaches 20-30 percent in hospitals," said Luhut in a written statement, Tuesday, January 11. .

Luhut said the number of Omicron cases reached 802 cases, most of which were contributed by foreign travelers (PPLN). Of the 537 cases in Jakarta, 435 of them came from PPLN.

"Therefore, for the umpteenth time, we urge the public not to travel abroad for the next 2-3 weeks, to prevent transmission from abroad," he stressed.

In addition, Luhut said that currently Omicron has been identified in 150 countries and has caused new waves with higher peaks in various countries of the world.

Indonesia, he continued, is not impossible to experience the same thing.

"But we don't need to panic, but we remain vigilant. Because of our experience in dealing with the Delta variant yesterday," he said.

Luhut emphasized that the current condition of Indonesia is much more prepared to face the potential wave of the Omicron variant.

This readiness is supported by already higher vaccination rates, much higher testing and tracking capacity, and a much better prepared health system in terms of medicines, hospital beds, health personnel, oxygen and centralized isolation facilities.

He again reminded all parties to remain disciplined about health protocols.