COVID-19 Cases In Jakarta, DKI Provincial Government: 90 Percent OTG And Mild Symptoms

Illustration of swab tests during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2022 (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Head of the Epidemiological Surveillance and Immunization Section of the DKI Jakarta Health Office, Ngabila Salama explained the characteristics of COVID-19 cases which are now increasing again in Jakarta. Now, the majority of cases are asymptomatic people (OTG) and have mild symptoms.

"As many as 90 percent of positive cases are OTG and have mild symptoms. They are self-isolating at home and will recover," Ngabila said in a short message, Monday, December 18.

Ngabila said, in the past week, the average addition of new positive cases of COVID-19 was 200 cases per day. This figure increased from last week, where the accumulation of new cases for a week was 271 positive cases.

However, Ngabila emphasized that the condition of the spread of the corona virus in Jakarta is still under control. This can be seen from the use of hospital beds for COVID-19 patients at this time.

"The use of hospital beds is about 5 percent of the total available beds or around 50-60 patients who are being hospitalized. This figure is 10 percent of the positive active cases in Jakarta," he explained.

Ngabila lalu menjelaskan penyebab peningkatan kasus COVID-19 setelah Indonesia memasuki masa endemi dan pergerakan masyarakat atau mobilitas yang cenderung stabil.

Head of the Epidemiological Surveillance and Immunization Section of the DKI Jakarta Health Office, Ngabila Salama explained, the increase in COVID-19 cases was caused by the transition from the dry season to the rainy season, decreased vaccination immunity, to the emergence of new variants of the corona virus.

"A person's immunity decreases, high humidity makes the virus easier to enter the body. Then, COVID-19 antibodies begin to decrease 6 months after vaccination," said Ngabila.

Ngabila explained, this time the COVID-19 case was dominated by the EG.5 subvariant. The EG.5 subvariant is a derivative of the Omicron variant and is included in the variant of interest (VOI) category or a variant that has a genetic mutation that is predicted to affect the clinical characteristics of the virus.

"Although mutations are indeed more contagious, the virus, the symptoms that appear should not be more severe," said Ngabila.

Furthermore, Ngabila explained that the government's main policy in dealing with the increase in COVID-19 cases is to protect vulnerable groups by completing immediate vaccination and early detection.

"Since the endemic of June 2023, the main responsibility rests with each community. However, the government never gets tired of urging and providing free of charge. Tighten the process of wearing masks and washing hands. If you want to prevent severity and death, vaccination is still very effective, to increase the number of antibodies also in the body," he added.