Doctor Reisa: The Risk Of Spreading COVID-19 While Homecoming Remains Despite High Antibodies

JAKARTA - Government Spokesperson for Handling COVID-19, Reisa Broto Asmoro, emphasized that the transmission of COVID-19 will still exist during Lebaran homecoming, even though the antibodies possessed by the Indonesian people are already high.

"Even though the antibodies formed are already high, it doesn't mean that the public will immediately be free from the risk of being infected with COVID-19," said Reisa, quoted by Antara, Monday, March 28.

Reisa said the Ministry of Health together with the Ministry of Home Affairs and the UI Faculty of Public Health (FKM) Pandemic Team had conducted a serological survey of the Indonesian population against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The results show that 86.6 percent of the Indonesian population has antibodies against COVID-19.

Data from the Ministry of Health also stated that as of March 27, 2022, vaccination coverage for the first dose had increased to 94.06 percent, the second dose was 75.79 percent and for the third dose it had reached 9.6 percent. The increase in vaccination coverage was also followed by a downward trend in COVID-19 cases.

Nevertheless, said Reisa, the transmission of COVID-19 will still exist, especially with the holy month of Ramadan where people will carry out social mobility to gather and travel back and forth to their hometowns. Even the results of a survey conducted by the Transportation Research and Development Agency of the Ministry of Transportation showed there is a potential that as many as 80 million people will go home during Lebaran 2022. During their activities in the month of Ramadan, people tend to meet a lot of other people, including children and the elderly (elderly) who are vulnerable to the transmission.

The easing of travel conditions also makes the potential for people going home to be even greater. So that carrying out COVID-19 vaccination can be one of the mitigation efforts to protect yourself and others.

Reisa asked the entire community to continue to carry out health protocols properly and correctly as well as complete vaccination doses to ensure antibodies are formed to break the chain of transmission of COVID-19 in this year's Ramadan.

Reisa also invited all parties to make the month of Ramadan a momentum to get closer to God by trying to maintain cleanliness through health protocols and protecting the surrounding environment from the worst risks of COVID-19 through vaccination.

"Let's make this month a moment where we always draw closer to God. But we can also show that through good worship, maintaining good hygiene, implementing good health protocols and continuing to strive to protect ourselves and our families from COVID-19 and one of the ways is by vaccinating," he said.