We cannot be careless and must stay vigilant until the finish line
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Government continues to carefully check hospital capacity and availability of drugs and oxygen to anticipate potential spread of COVID-19 sub-variants Omicron BA.4 and BA.5, Presidential Staff Office's (KSP's) Main Expert Staff, Abraham Wirotomo, stated.

"We cannot be careless and must stay vigilant until the finish line," Wirotomo noted in a written statement here, Monday.

The KSP reported that the daily count of COVID-19 cases had increased one month after the Eid al-Fitr holiday.

According to data from the Health Ministry, KSP drew attention to an increase in daily cases on June 9, 2022, which recorded a spike of up to 556 cases. The increase in cases was due to the new variants -- Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 -- that had entered Indonesia.

Despite the increase in cases, the rate of transmission of COVID-19 in Indonesia is still under control according to the positivity rate and low case transmission rates, Wirotomo stated.


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The public is advised to continue to follow health protocols and immediately receive a booster vaccine or a third dose of vaccine, he stated.

“We see the increase in the number of cases as a warning. If we want to keep Indonesia on track towards entering an endemic stage, then we must comply with the health protocols and not refuse to take booster vaccines," he stressed.

New COVID-19 sub-variants -- Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 -- have been detected in Indonesia. These sub-variants are known to have low morbidity rates in confirmed positive patients.

Related news: Health Ministry detects four BA.4, BA.5 COVID-19 cases in Bali

The new sub-variant cases BA.4 and BA.5 were first reported in Indonesia on June 6, 2022. Four cases reported comprised one positive for BA.4 and three positive for BA.5.

Spokesperson of the Health Ministry, Mohammad Syahril, stated that three of the patients experienced no symptoms, while one foreign patient reported mild symptoms.

Although the subvariants can transmit faster, he affirmed that so far, there were no indications that they have higher severity as compared to the previous Omicron subvariants.

Related news: Uno emphasizes public vigilance to spread of Omicron subvariants

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Translator: Indra Arief P, Resinta S
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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