"The case of Omicron transmission in Indonesia is still under control, although the spike in cases has exceeded the trend of cases caused by the Delta variant," he said.
Luckily, the number of hospitalized patients and deaths has been much lower than during the Delta surge, he said while sharing the results of a limited meeting on the implementation of community activity restrictions (PPKM) in an online statement here on Monday.
The minister, who is also deputy chair of the Committee for Handling COVID-19 and National Economic Recovery (KPC PEN), explained that several provinces, including Jakarta, Banten, and Bali, have reported a downward trend in daily cases for the past seven days.
"The trend of hospitalization rates has also declined in Jakarta and Bali. The occupancy of inpatient rooms in all provinces in Java-Bali is still far below the occupancy for the Delta variant cases," he noted.
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Minister Pandjaitan said the issue of the number of patients exceeding the number of health workers also needs to be addressed.
Nurses, support staff, and hospital management officers are the most infected group, he noted.
This condition, he said, indicates that many health workers have been exposed to COVID-19 due to transmission in their respective homes and environments.
"The government is trying to prevent such a situation by asking the Health Ministry to increase monitoring and increase the number of personal protective equipment (PPE) and prepare special residences (for health workers) to avoid close contact with families," he informed.
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Translator: Katriana
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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