"Essentially, we have reached four thousand active cases," acting head of the West Jakarta Health Sub-department, Yudi Dimyati, said in Jakarta on Thursday.
West Jakarta recorded 600 daily cases for one week, he added. Many of the positive cases were detected after extensive tracing, he said. By expediting tracing, many positive cases could be discovered and treated without delay, he added.
So far, the majority of patients testing positive for the coronavirus have been placed under self-isolation at home, Dimyati informed. At least 3,100 residents are undergoing self-isolation, while the rest are being treated in hospitals, he elaborated.
Most patients are undergoing self-isolation because they are either asymptomatic or only experiencing mild symptoms, he explained. The hospitals are being reserved for patients with severe and critical symptoms, he said.
He assured that his administration would continue to monitor the health of those undergoing self-isolation and those receiving treatment in hospitals.
He urged residents to continue to follow the health protocols and avoid non-urgent activities outside their homes.
Since the emergence of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, there has been an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases. The Health Ministry has reported that five people have died of Omicron so far. Some of them were unvaccinated, it informed.
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As a countermeasure, the government has expedited vaccinations for citizens, including children in the age bracket of 6 to 11 years.
The COVID-19 Task Force had earlier warned parents against giving pocket money to students to prevent them from lingering after school. It also suggested that students be given homemade meals as they are more hygienic.
If students stay back after school, it becomes tougher to implement COVID-19 prevention measures since schools can only monitor health protocol adherence within their premises, it explained.
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Translator: Walda Marison, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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