Good News From Mimika Papua, 20 COVID-19 Cases Remaining

Illustration (Photo: Antara)

MIMIKA - There are now 29 active cases of COVID-19 in Mimika Regency, Papua Province, a decrease compared to the period of February 11, 2022, which was the peak of transmission of the Omicron variant with the number of people exposed to more than 1,000 people.

Head of the Mimika District Health Office, Reynold Ubra in Timika, Thursday, March 31, said that of the 29 active COVID-19 cases in Mimika, eight people were still undergoing treatment at the hospital, seven patients at the Mimika Hospital and one patient at the Timika Hospital.

As for the patients who underwent self-isolation as many as 19 people and two others underwent centralized isolation in Tembagapura.

"The good news is that the number of COVID-19 cases in Mimika has decreased dramatically, the percentage of cases is below 10 percent, much lower than the period two to three weeks ago," Reynold said as quoted by Antara.

Since the beginning of 2022 until now, the findings of COVID-19 cases in Mimika have reached 2,469 cases with a cure rate of 2,423 people and 17 deaths.

The findings of COVID-19 cases in Mimika from March 20, 2020 to March 30, 2022 reached 12,196 cases, with a cure rate of 11,957 people and cases of death as many as 210 people.

"The average recovery rate from COVID-19 in Mimika is 98 percent, while the number of deaths is no more than 3 percent," he said.

The decrease in the number of new cases of COVID-19 in Mimika and the high recovery rate of COVID-19 patients are in line with the increasing number of local residents who have participated in the vaccination.

Of the 172,185 Mimika residents targeted for the COVID-19 vaccination program, the coverage of the first dose of vaccination has reached 78.9 percent, the second dose of 63.9 percent and the third dose of 10.81 percent.

Reynolds said that the number of residents who received the third dose of vaccine injection or booster dose in the past week has increased dramatically in line with the government's policy to no longer require antigen examination for travelers who have received two to three injections of the COVID-19 vaccine.

"We are targeting that by the end of 2022 the coverage of the third dose of vaccination in Mimika is at least 70 percent," he said.

Currently, the stock of COVID-19 vaccines, both Moderna vaccines, Pfizer vaccines and Sinovac vaccines are still quite adequate.

On that occasion Reynold appealed to Muslims who will enter the holy month of Ramadan as well as Christians who will celebrate Easter to continue to adhere to health protocols while carrying out worship activities in houses of worship.

"Currently Mimika is in level II status, of course there are a number of criteria for carrying out activities in public spaces, namely enforcing health procedures, especially maintaining physical distance when gathering, must wear masks, meeting rooms can only be filled 75 percent of the capacity provided. In addition, the elderly and toddlers under six years old are not allowed to participate," he said.

Meanwhile, schools in Timika are allowed to hold 100 percent face-to-face learning (PTM) only if all teachers and students have received the COVID-19 vaccine injection.