“Despite a decline in the number of COVID-19 cases currently in Jakarta, we continue to conduct testing that is more than the standard set by WHO, i.e., around nine to 10 times higher than the WHO standard,” Head of the Jakarta Health Office, Widyastuti, stated here, Monday.
With regard to tracing, the Jakarta Health Office, along with the Health Research and Development Agency and other related partners, implemented the the Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) method to detect the new variants of COVID-19.
Widyastuti remarked that this method is intensified to expedite the prevention and control of the Omicron variant in Jakarta.
"We are conducting Whole Genome Sequencing to detect the risk or the possibility of a new variant for everyone with a history of having traveled to abroad, those reinfected with COVID-19 although they had been infected before, and vaccinated people tested positive for COVID-19," she expounded.
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For treatment, Widyastuti affirmed that the Jakarta provincial government and the central government had readied isolation centers for Indonesian citizens and foreigners that had traveled from abroad.
The health office head explained that centralized quarantine obligations for Indonesian citizens and foreigners from abroad had been regulated in the COVID-19 Task Force Circular Letter Number 25 of 2021 on International Travel Health Protocols during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Widyastuti appealed to the public to stay calm yet continue to strictly follow health protocols as well as get fully vaccinated against COVID-19 promptly.
"This disease is relatively new, and the virus continues to mutate. The vaccine is still effective, and even if infected, the risk and symptoms are mild. Hence, get vaccinated and follow the health protocols," she stressed.
Earlier, last Thursday, the Ministry of Health confirmed the detection of the first Omicron infection in Indonesia, with a janitor at the Wisma Atlet Emergency Hospital, Jakarta, having contracted the virus.
The ministry thereafter detected two other cases, thereby bringing the total Omicron case count as of Friday to three.
One of the two patients had recently returned from South America, while the other had returned from England.
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Translator: Ricky Prayoga, Raka Adji
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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