JAKARTA - Even 10 days since the Ministry of Health announced the findings of the first case of the Omicron BA4 and BA5 variants in Indonesia on June 6, the number of positive COVID-19 cases has soared rapidly with the addition of an average daily case approaching 100 percent.
In the last 3 days (13-15 June 2022) the number of additional positive cases was 591, 930 and 1,242 new cases, respectively. The Ministry of Health also predicts that the peak of the COVID-19 wave in Indonesia will occur in mid-July 2022.
The trend of increasing the number of positive cases of COVID-19 is allegedly caused by the increasingly lax implementation of health protocols by the public, and the entry of new variants of Omicron, namely BA4 and BA5 which have the potential to be able to break through immunity in the body or immune escape.
Since it was first detected in South Africa in January 2022, this new variant has been found in more than 60 countries and is one of the causes of the return of the COVID-19 wave, including in Indonesia.
WHO Chair Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has reminded that Omicron is not the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, so countries and the world community are asked to remain vigilant, focus on defeating Covid and not underestimate the emerging variants of Covid-19.
In Indonesia, the Government Spokesperson for Handling COVID-19 Prof. Wiku Adisasmito explained that the Government anticipates the spread of BA4 and BA5 variants by increasing Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS), conducting epidemiological studies on the distribution of variants, and ensuring the effectiveness of testing tools, especially at entrances, as well as increasing vaccinations.
Is this government's effort effective especially with the new variant's capability in the form of immune escape?
The emergence of new variants of COVID-19 to Indonesia cannot be avoided in the midst of high community mobility. However, its spread can be prevented by implementing health protocols and a healthy lifestyle, especially maintaining hand and nose hygiene, which are the entrances for various viruses into the body.
Achmad Sujudi, former Minister of Health of Indonesia in the Gotong Royong Cabinet, said that the virus can escape from masks, so technology is needed that can prevent the virus from entering the lungs, namely a nose sanitizer.
Nose sanitizer has a very important role because it can kill all types of viruses that have entered the nasal cavity and throat cavity.
SaNOtize is a Canadian company that has innovated to develop a sanitizer nozzle called Enovid, which is a medical device that produces Nitric Oxide which is able to kill various viruses, including COVID-19.
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, Enovid was evaluated for treating chronic sinusitis and diabetic wounds. The formulation in Enovid has also been patented and is named Nitric Oxide Releasing Solution or NORS.
Prior to its official release, Enovid had gone through a phase 3 clinical trial conducted in India on COVID-19 patients at increased risk of disease, unvaccinated patients, middle-aged and older patients and patients with comorbidities.
As a result, the average COVID-19 recovery time for patients given Enovid was 4 days compared to 8 days in the placebo group (not given Enovid).
Enovid has entered Indonesia since February 2022 and can be found in various pharmacies as well as Shopee and Tokopedia e-commerce. The emergence of new variants reminds us to be vigilant, but it should not be an excessive concern.
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