If we look at probable cases of Omicron, there are currently approximately 1,800 casesJakarta (ANTARA) - The Health Ministry recorded 748 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 Omicron variant in Indonesia until January 15, 2022.
"As of January 15, 2022, there have been 748 confirmed positive cases of Omicron reported. Of which, 569 were people who had a history of international travel and 155 people with local transmission,” Director of Prevention and Control of Vector and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases at the Health Ministry Siti Nadia Tarmizi said in an online symposium on combating COVID-19 pandemic on Sunday.
The ministry is still conducting an epidemiological investigation for 24 other positive cases.
"If we look at probable cases of Omicron, there are currently approximately 1,800 cases," Tarmizi said.
She said the international travelers were mostly come from Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the Unites States, Malaysia, and the United Arab Emirates.
To tackle the spread of the Omicron variant, the government continues to make various efforts such as mobility restrictions and regulation on the duration of the quarantine period for international travelers.
Currently, confirmed Omicron patients must undergo isolation at the Wisma Atlet COVID-19 Emergency Hospital, Jakarta, and at the referral hospital.
If the number of Omicron cases continue to rise, she noted, it is possible that patients who have confirmed positive for COVID-19 to carry out self-isolation at home under the supervision of public health centers (Puskesmas) and local health service facilities.
Patients in self-isolation will be offered telemedicine services, she said.
The government has urged the public to carry out health protocols strictly. Local administrations should strengthen testing and intensify contact tracing in an effort to localize potential COVID-19 clusters.
Whole genom sequencing and the use of PeduliLindungi application must be continued as part of efforts to carry out contact tracing and to quickly locate Omicron cases, she said.
The number of COVID-19 patients being treated at the Wisma Atlet COVID-19 Emergency Hospital, Jakarta, rose by 95 to reach 2,475 on Saturday, an official earlier said.
"The number of inpatients, who are positive (or contracted COVID-19) at towers 5 and 6 reaches 2,475. Meanwhile, the last figure (on Friday) reaches 2,380. There are an additional 95 inpatients," head of information for Joint Regional Defense Command I, Marine Colonel Aris Mudian, stated while conveying the updated situation of the Wisma Atlet COVID-19 Emergency Hospital here on Saturday.
Mudian also noted that from March 23, 2020, to January 15, 2022, the total number of patients referred to the Wisma Atlet COVID-19 Emergency Hospital had reached 133,629.
Of the total figure, 129,487 patients had recovered, while 1,071 patients were referred to other hospitals, he remarked.
Meanwhile, as of January 15, 2022, the number of patients having succumbed to the virus at the hospital reached 596, he stated.
On the occasion, he also provided an update on the situation at Galang Island's Special Hospital for Infection (RSKI), Batam, Riau Islands.
According to Mudian, the number of COVID-19 inpatients in the hospital reached 247, comprising 162 men and 85 women, as of Saturday.
The figure has increased by one patient as compared to the previous day when 246 patients were recorded.
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Translator: Martha H, Azis Kurmala
Editor: Sri Haryati
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