Minister Of Health Budi: COVID-19 Cases Rise But Already At The Peak

Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

Minister of Health (Menkes) Budi Gunadi Sadikin said COVID-19 cases in the country had increased. However, the increase has reached its peak based on observations from the ministry. "COVID-19 cases are on the rise but our observations have reached the top," Budi told reporters at the Presidential Palace, Jakarta, Thursday, December 1. There is a reason that makes Budi believe the increase in COVID-19 has reached its peak, namely the increase in the positivity rate. Budi said, the positivity rate will usually increase but then slope. So, he believes that Indonesia is already at the peak of spread because this figure is starting to decline. "Our homework has fallen throughout Indonesia and large provinces. So it should have been down in two weeks," he said. Meanwhile, the population of the Omicron XBB and BQ.1 subvariants has now reached 80 percent of the COVID-19 cases in the country. Budi said this variant had taken over the variants BA.4 and BA.5. "It is the characteristics that they are bored that will go down. That's why we are different, predict ups and downs based on empirically PR data and we will look back at the genomic variant data in one week and two weeks it will go down," explained the former Deputy Minister of SOEs. Although the number of COVID-19 transmission will begin to decline, Budi reminded the public to immediately get the vaccine. Moreover, based on the data he has, 74 percent of patients who have been admitted to the hospital due to exposure have not received a booster. Meanwhile, 50 percent of patients who died were caused by not getting the COVID-19 vaccine. "So now you can see people who have not been vaccinated," explained Budi. "Those who have not been vaccinated are at high risk and died because 50 percent of those who died are people who have not been vaccinated. So, if you have a mother, father, grandfather, you are quickly vaccinated because of their high risk," he concluded.