Some 408 thousand cases of Omicron were confirmed in the world so far, an increase from 184 thousand cases last week.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin, while delivering a press statement streamed on YouTube here on Monday, stated that the new COVID-19 variant, Omicron, had spread to 132 nations within the last week.

"Some 408 thousand cases of Omicron were confirmed in the world so far, an increase from 184 thousand cases last week," he elaborated.

The number of nations that detected the presence of Omicron increased, from 115 to 132 within the last week. Cases of Omicron were most frequently detected in Europe, England, Denmark, and the US, he remarked.

"They are all above 20 thousand (cases). Meanwhile, cases in South Africa had declined to around 1,800," Sadikin noted.

Indonesia ranked 40th among nations in the world that had contracted Omicron, with the case count reaching 152 as of today.

Some 16 additional cases were reported as compared to the count on Saturday, with international travelers being entirely causal to this trend.

Nations in Southeast Asia with several Omicron cases that exceeded Indonesia's count were Singapore, with 1,600 cases, and Thailand, with 1,500 cases, the minister noted.

Based on the government's observation, India is also witnessing a rise in the number of Omicron cases, with a total of 1,700 patients, he pointed out.

"Indonesia has relatively low (number of Omicron cases) if we consider its population and its geographical size," he noted.

This was attributed to the quite stringent quarantine policy for all international travelers.

"We managed to thwart the entry of Omicron. However, out of the 152 cases, we know that six of them are local transmission," he noted.

Most of these local transmission cases are in Jakarta, but there are also ones that came from Medan, Bali, and Surabaya.

To this end, Sadikin urged the people to remain cautious.

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Translator: Andi Firdaus, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Sri Haryati
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