Omicron Case Found In Pekanbaru, Health Office Tracks Contacts Closely

ILLUSTRATION ANTARA

PEKANBARU - The Acting Head of the Riau Province Health Service (Dinas) Masrul Kasmy asked the public not to panic even though the Omicron variant of COVID-19 had entered his territory with one case found in a Pekanbaru City resident.

"Of course, to break the chain of distribution, we do tracing and testing. We don't know exactly where he lives and we leave the Pemko to track him down. People don't panic over this finding, the most important thing is to maintain health protocols together," said Masrul Kasmy, as quoted by Antara, Sunday, January 30th.

After tracking the Pekanbaru residents, further tracing and testing were carried out for everyone who was close to the patient.

Masrul said the Omicron virus had entered Pekanbaru City, through a person with the initials Em who had just traveled from Batam City, Riau Islands.

One of the residents of Pekanbaru who was detected as having confirmed the new variant of the COVID-19 Omicron virus had previously been swab and the results of a laboratory examination in Batam on Saturday, January 29, were confirmed positive.

"Yes, there is a Riau resident, with a Pekanbaru ID card confirmed positive for the Omicron variant of COVID-19. This Pekanbaru resident has his examination in Batam, and now he is in Pekanbaru," he said.

The Riau Provincial Health Office has also received a letter from Batam and forwarded it to the Pekanbaru City Health Office and the Port Health Office (KKP).

"For this reason, we ask the Pekanbaru City Health Office to track the whereabouts of Pekanbaru residents detected by Omicron," he said.