JAKARTA - Australia's Griffith University Epidemiologist Dicky Budiman warned that a third wave of COVID-19 cases could potentially occur in Indonesia.
"The potential for wave three is very clear. Talking about the potential for waves, then talk about community groups or populations that do not yet have immunity or even though they already have immunity, their immunity decreases," said Dicky Budiman, quoted by Antara, Sunday, January 23.
Based on the study, he said, the immunity obtained from the COVID-19 vaccination was proven to decrease after five months after the complete vaccination.
"Nothing lasts long, that's a fact. That's why the potential for a spike in cases caused by Omicron is very clear. Moreover, the speed of infection is faster than Delta," he said.
Therefore, he continued, to respond to the Omicron variant, the government must not neglect the testing and tracking aspects.
"This should not be ignored, because without strong early detection we will not be able to break the transmission. Cut off the transmission by finding the cases of infection and their contact cases, so that they can undergo effective isolation or quarantine," he said.
In addition, Dicky explained, efforts must be made, namely increasing the implementation of 5M (wearing masks, maintaining distance, washing hands, staying away from crowds, and reducing mobility).
Dicky said that the Omicron variant cannot be underestimated, because it is included in the variant of concern (VOC). "So, any understatement narrative is dangerous, Omicron looks light because of vaccination and immunity," he said.
Separately, an epidemiologist from Andalas University, Defriman Djafri asked the government to increase screening, testing, tracking, and whole genome sequence (WGS) analysis to suppress the spread of Omicron variants in the country.
"This strategy ensures we can identify quickly, and the cases identified really have to be strictly quarantined, considering the faster transmission of Omicron than other variants," he said.
Omicron which is included in the VOC, he continued, requires high vigilance in handling it.
"Everything is unpredictable, don't go ahead with policies as if they are urgent because we are not quick to detect and be alert early on," he said.
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