President Jokowi Orders Mitigation Measures to Brace for Spike in Omicron Cases

President Jokowi accompanied by VP Ma’ruf Amin leads a limited meeting on public activity restrictions evaluation, Monday (01/03), at the Presidential Office in Jakarta. (Photo by: PR of Cabinet Secretariat/Jay)

In the wake of the finding of locally transmitted COVID-19 Omicron cases, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has ordered related ministries / Government institutions to prepare mitigation measures to anticipate possible spike in the new variant cases.

“Omicron cases have been locally transmitted so we must carefully prepare the mitigation procedure, especially as we enter a new year and all sectors are already back in business in January, particularly major ones, namely education and offices,” the President said during a limited meeting on evaluation of public activity restrictions held at the Presidential Office in Jakarta, Monday (01/03).

Since the first Omicron case in Indonesia was announced on December 16, 2021, the number of cases has been increasing, totalling 136 cases to date.

To that end, the President has ordered that health care facilities be readied to anticipate spike in cases.

“Let me reiterate the measures that we must take, especially on preparation of health care facilities that we have, both in the [management of] the Central Government and those in regional governments,” he said, while ordering for strict supervision of quarantine for international travelers as the bulk of the confirmed Omicron cases are imported ones.

“There must not be any dispensation or bribe anymore because if we pay attention, the number of cases that has risen to 136 mostly consists of imported cases. I do hope that the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) and the Indonesian National Police (Polri) pay extra attention to quarantine,” he said.

The President also underscored that the Government continues to roll out vaccination as a measure to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that 281 million doses of vaccine have been administered.

“We continue to achieve the target that we have set so we can immediately meet the first and the second jab targets because our vaccine supply, based on [the information] from Minister of Health, is abundant,” he remarked. (FID/UN) (DH/EP)