Indonesia Reports 1,600 Omicron Cases
Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin (Photo by: PR/Agung)
Of the total 1,600 confirmed cases of Omicron variant, two people died and around 20 people needed hospital treatment and oxygen, Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin has announced.
“I urge the public to remain vigilant and careful since the transmission rate [of Omicron] is high. Nevertheless, there is no need to be panic as the hospitalization and mortality rate are low,” the Minister said in a press statement after attending the limited cabinet meeting on evaluation of the PPKM that was held virtually, Monday (01/24).
According to Budi Gunadi, Vice President Ma’ruf Amin has given approval to publish the level of compliance in PeduliLindungi app so the public can take part in the use of the app. “[This action is] to measure the public discipline in adhering to the health protocols,” he said.
The Minister also stated that not all cases will be subjected to genome sequencing due to the increasing number of confirmed cases of Omicron. Genome sequencing will be more utilized to analyze transmission pattern of Omicron cases.
“We will use PCR with SGTF (S-Gene Target Failure) which can detect Omicron much faster. And we will distribute it to the regions soon,” he said.
In the meantime, Budi Gunadi also urged local governments to remain disciplined in tracking COVID-19 [cases] according to a set ratio, which is 1:1000 residents per week and to continue current isolation scheme, namely self-isolation at home and centralized isolation in hospitals.
He also added that the telemedicine service for self-isolated patients of COVID-19 has shown satisfactory results.
The Government will continue to speed up COVID-19 vaccination drive, especially for vulnerable groups, namely the elderly and children. “We will accelerate the booster vaccination in Greater Jakarta area in the next 2-3 weeks as Omicron cases are mostly found there,” he said.
In addition, the Ministry has allocated 80 thousand beds and it can be increased to 150 thousand in hospitals to anticipate the surge in Omicron cases.
“To date, the bed occupation rate is about 5 thousand beds. We have also provided oxygen, medicines, and health workers. I really hope we do not need all of this since we expect the hospital admissions will be much lower,” he remarked. (MAY/UN) (GWH/MMB)
