Kadinkes: Omicron Variant Detected In Ambon

ILLUSTRA TION BY VOI

AMBON - The head of the Ambon City Health Service, Wendy Pelupessy, stated that the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus had been detected in the city.

"We have received the results of the sample examination at the PP Yogyakarta BBTKL Laboratory. 98 percent of the specimens examined lead to the omicron variant," he said, quoted by Antara, Wednesday, February 9.

Wendy said the Yogyakarta Center for Environmental Health and Disease Control Engineering (BTKL PP) had submitted the results of the sample examination to the Head of the Maluku Provincial Health Office as well as the Ambon Health Office, the results were detected with the omicron variant.

Of the 198 specimens examined with the S-Gene Target Failure (STGF) PCR Examination, 89 percent of the results were positive for COVID-19.

"From the characteristics of a fairly rapid increase in cases, it can be concluded that the Omicron variant has entered Ambon," he said.

Wendy explained, the movement of the increase in COVID-19 cases was very fast, within two weeks, from one case to seven cases and so far it has reached 965 cases.

"In principle, whatever the variant, we still have to apply health protocols," he said.

According to Wendy, the significant increase in cases was due to the company's intensive efforts to carry out testing, tracing, tracking (3T) and screening people who had close contact with previously confirmed patients.

COVID-19, he said, is synonymous with transmission, therefore his party will continue to increase 3T activities with the WHO indicator of 1/1,000 people per week.

The goal, according to him, is to find out earlier the chain of transmission, reduce the space for movement through isolation of confirmed patients to minimize transmission.

"Thus, we can immediately break the chain of transmission of COVID," he said.