Vice President Affirms 100 Percent PTM Will Be Evaluated If COVID-19 Continues To Increase Due To Omicron

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JAKARTA - Vice President Ma'ruf Amin said the government would evaluate the implementation of 100 percent face-to-face learning (PTM) if COVID-19 cases in Indonesia continued to increase.

The government previously predicted a spike in cases would occur in February in line with the increase in transmission of the Omicor variant in the community.

"We will continue to adjust it according to conditions. If the situation is still under control, it's okay (PTM) 100 percent. But in certain areas, maybe we will adjust it later," said Ma'ruf Amin in a statement received by VOI, Friday, January 21. .

"If that's the result, it's a high Omicron, right, not all regions. Well, maybe we'll see some time, especially entering February where it is suspected that there will be a spike, we will continue to adjust it," he continued.

In principle, said Ma'ruf, the government always adjusts the handling of the pandemic by looking at the conditions comprehensively. However, he emphasized that until now there has been no change in the implementation of PTM.

"All of this is in accordance with the challenges we face. If there is an increase (cases) we will certainly tighten it. If it has gone down, then we will loosen it including PTM. So, until today, the regulations have not been changed. Then we will immediately adjust," he explained.

Previously, the government's predictions about the surge in COVID-19 cases due to the spread of the Omicron variant were increasingly visible. Over the past three weeks, the number of new positive cases has increased fivefold.

Two weeks ago, weekly COVID-19 cases were 1,501 cases. Weekly cases last week increased by 3,027 cases. Then, this week, weekly cases added 5,454.

"Currently, the number of national positive cases has increased in the last 3 weeks, increasing 5 times from 1,123 cases to 5,454 cases," said Spokesperson for the COVID-19 Task Force, Wiku Adisasmito.

Wiku said that this week, there were 8,605 active cases of COVID-19. This figure is up by more than 3,000 cases compared to last week's 5,494 cases.

Specifically for the Omicron variant, as of January 20, 1,078 cases have been detected in Indonesia. In detail, as many as 756 cases are foreign travel agents (PPLN), 257 local transmissions, and 65 cases are still being identified.