Antara, Jakarta – An epidemiologist from Andalas University, Defriman Djafri, stated that the enforcement of the emergency public activity restriction or Emergency PPKM is needed to curb COVID-19 cases, especially the Omicron variant.

He argued that the government should learn from the previous handling of the Delta variant in July 2021. At that time, the number of cases significantly declined after the Emergency PPKM was applied.

The transmission trend of Omicron cases which is dominated by overseas travelers to local transmissions must be watched out for as it might lead to the emergence of clusters of infections.

"Referred to what had been done before and based on the data I have also analyzed, the Emergency PPKM followed by PPKM Level 1-4 is indeed very significant in slowing down cases," Defriman remarked.

He opined that based on the latest data, the Emergency PPKM should be carried out before the virus from its epicenters, Java and Bali, spreads to other regions. He also observed that there were doubts over conveying the risk of Omicron transmission as if the variant of concern is not as severe as the Delta variant. This caused people to think that the pandemic will end quickly.

While in fact, the Omicron variant still poses a risk in the elderly group and people with comorbidities.

Defriman further underlined that vaccine boosters are necessary and hoped that the public can get the additional shot soon considering that most of the people infected with the Omicron variant have received a complete vaccination course.

Source: https://en.tempo.co/read/1558183/epidemiologist-says-emergency-ppkm-needed-to-curb-covid-19-case