"Can we enter the (COVID-19) endemic stage yet? We need to pass some stages, from the pandemic, deceleration, controlled (situation), elimination, and eradication," he said during a hearing meeting with legislators from Commission IX of the House of Representatives (DPR RI) here on Monday.
According to the deputy minister, Indonesia has entered the controlled stage as COVID-19 is no longer disrupting social activities, cases have continued to decline, and the trajectory of daily positive cases has become predictable.
"We could not say we have entered the endemic stage yet, but (now we are in) the controlled pandemic stage," he noted.
Globally, most COVID-19 infections are dominated by the Omicron variant, he said, adding that new variants BA.4 and BA.5 are yet to be detected in Indonesia and the authorities are continuing to monitor the ongoing whole-genome sequencing process to determine their presence.
The new BA.4 and BA.5 variants that are related to the Omicron variant have a faster infection rate, but have similar hospitalization potential as Omicron, he said. Thus, positive patients experience only minor symptoms that require no intensive care, he added.
Related news: Gov't will handle COVID-19 as normal disease on endemic situation
"The new variants could neutralize a person who has been vaccinated. This means, a vaccinated person can still be infected," Harbuwono said.
The deputy minister informed that data observation conducted after the Eid al-Fitr holiday period in early May has found that the COVID-19 infection rate in Indonesia is significantly low.
"At present, we record only 250 daily new cases, and we record only three fatality cases. In recent days, some hospitalizations were instead made upon the patient's request, and we saw no serious symptoms," he said.
Of the 230 cases that were recorded with severe symptoms, most were detected among the elderly who were yet to complete their vaccination, he added.
Related news: Gov't to gradually roll back COVID treatment subsidies
Translator: Andi Firdaus, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2022
