"In essence, a seven-day quarantine will reduce the likelihood of local transmission only to 0.01 to one percent. Hence, the key (to stopping the spread of Omicron) will depend on the government and the residents' discipline during their quarantine," Wirotomo stated at the Presidential Palace complex here on Monday.
Earlier, Umrah flights to Saudi Arabia had been resumed on Saturday (Jan 8, 2022) after the initial plan to reopen the flights on December 2021 was scrapped by the Indonesian government due to the emergence of the COVID-19 Omicron variant.
The authority has readied various measures to tackle the COVID-19 Omicron variant, especially for Umrah pilgrims returning to Indonesia after completing their pilgrimage, according to the expert.
A strict quarantine and isolation regime, contact-tracing measures, and post-quarantine health protocol enforcement are among the government measures adopted to prevent the spread of Omicron among residents arriving from foreign countries, he noted.
"The KSP will perform on-site monitoring to ensure all quarantine measures abide by the president's instruction," Wirotomo affirmed.
The government has also optimized existing resources to halt the spread of Omicron, including by increasing facilities at centralized quarantine facilities as well as distributing medicines and additional oxygen quota to Indonesia's 34 provinces, he noted.
"This week, oxygen supply has reached 80 percent out of the maximum capacity, increasing from the 50-60 percent oxygen reserve that we have earlier. Health workers in regions are also ready to work to handle positive Omicron cases," the expert remarked.
The Health Ministry, as of Friday (Jan 7, 2022), has recorded 318 cases of COVID-19 Omicron positive cases nationwide. Of the total confirmed cases, 295 cases originated from overseas sources, while 23 cases are due to local transmissions.
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Translator: Indra Arief P, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Sri Haryati
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