Travelers who intend to make a journey during the year-end holidays are expected to follow the health protocols.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture has asked travelers to stay disciplined in observing the health protocols as part of efforts to prevent new COVID-19 infections.

"Travelers who intend to make a journey during the year-end holidays are expected to follow the health protocols," the ministry's deputy for health quality improvement and demographic development Agus Suprapto said in Jakarta on Monday.

All travelers using public transportation modes and private cars need to comply with the health protocols, he added.

"Health protocols such as wearing masks in a right and good way, and washing hands are a must," he stressed.

Residents who intend to travel during the year-end holidays will need to have taken the first to the booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

"In addition to applying health protocols, travelers must also have been vaccinated," he said.

When public mobility increases, it is feared that the potential for the spread of the disease will increase, too, he added.

Further, when public mobility is high, the risk of contracting other diseases could also increase. The diseases include C communicable diseases such as upper respiratory tract infections and tuberculosis.

Indonesia has recorded 20 cases of the BN.1 sub-variant of Omicron since it was first detected in Riau Islands on September 16, 2022, according to the Health Ministry.

"We have found one variant that is different from the others. This is what we are monitoring to see whether it will lead to a spike in caseload in Indonesia," chief of the communication and public services bureau of the Health Ministry Siti Nadia Tarmizi said in Jakarta on Thursday.

Nine out of the 20 cases of the Omicron BN.1 sub-variant were reported in Jakarta; 5 in Central Java; 3 in Riau Islands; and 1 respectively in North Sumatra, West Kalimantan, and South Kalimantan.

BN.1 is a sub-lineage of the BA 2.75 derivative of the Omicron variant. The first case of the Omicron BN.1 sub-variant was detected in India at the end of July 2022.

Currently, cases of the Omicron BN.1 sub-variant are being reported in the United States, Britain, Austria, Australia, and India.

“The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is currently monitoring this variant following an increase in BN.1 variant cases in the past month," she informed.


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Translator: Wuryanti Puspitasari, Suharto
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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