Yogyakarta Detects Omicron Cases From Travelers

Chairman of the Daily Task Force COVID-19 Yogyakarta Heroe Poerwadi ANTARA/Eka AR

YOGYAKARTA - The City of Yogyakarta detected one case of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 from residents outside the region, travelers who entered the city of Yogyakarta and are currently undergoing isolation.

"There is one case, we are currently isolating it at a government-owned shelter," said Heroe Poerwadi, Head of the Yogyakarta COVID-19 Handling Task Force, quoted by Antara, Monday, January 31.

According to him, the confirmation of the case finding of the Omicron variant was received on Sunday, January 30, the night and is currently being carried out by tracing the patient's close contacts.

Until now, Heroe has not received complete information about the activities carried out by the traveler while in the city of Yogyakarta.

"We are asking for information about activities while in Yogyakarta. Where to go and meet with anyone. Next, a COVID-19 test will be carried out," he said.

However, Heroe ensured that the patient was not from a large group that came to Yogyakarta.

"We are not sure how the patient was exposed to this variant. And how long have you been in Yogyakarta," he said.

Based on the findings of the case, Heroe said that he would tighten health protocols in a number of places that often become a reference for travellers, including tourists.

"Hotels, restaurants, cafes, tourist attractions must implement strict health protocols so that workers in these locations are also safe from potential transmission. Previously, positive cases were also found from travelers," he said.

During the past week, the findings of positive confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the city of Yogyakarta showed an upward trend and on Monday, January 31, there were an additional 17 new cases with three patients recovering or completing isolation.

Thus, the total active cases in Yogyakarta rose to 91 cases.

The isolation shelter that is currently being prepared by the Yogyakarta City Government is in the Bener Shelter which utilizes the Rusunawa building.

"The hospital has also committed to providing 30 percent of the bed capacity for handling COVID-19 patients if there are additional patients requiring hospitalization," said Heroe.