The number of COVID-19 cases has increased from 1,123 to 5,454 in the past three weeks, spokesperson for the COVID-19 Handling Task Force, Wiku Adisasmito, informed at a press conference accessed online from here on Thursday.
The number of active COVID-19 cases this week reached 8,605, an increase of 3 thousand compared to the previous week, when the number of cases was recorded at 5,494, he informed.
"The current increase in cases has, of course, been caused by two sources of transmission, namely through local transmission and foreign travelers," he noted.
Adisasmito revealed that currently, the spread of COVID-19 in Indonesia is mostly due to local transmission.
"As of January 15, 2022, 63 percent of (COVID-19) positive cases were caused by local transmission," he said.
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According to Adisasmito, COVID-19 cases are still being detected among travelers from abroad, but they are no longer the dominant source of transmission since the number is still lower than local transmission.
"Regardless of what variant is currently entering Indonesia, in principle, the slightest transmission must immediately be controlled so that it does not spread and cause a spike in (COVID-19) cases," the spokesperson remarked.
The first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Indonesia in March 2020. According to data provided by the COVID-19 Handling Task Force, as of January 20, 2022, at least 4,277,644 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the country, while 4,121,117 people have recovered and 144,199 people have succumbed to the virus.
The Health Ministry detected the first Omicron case in Indonesia on December 15, 2021. As of January 20, 2022, the ministry has recorded as many as 882 Omicron cases in the country.
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Translator: Zubi Mahrofi, Raka Adji
Editor: Suharto
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