Egi Adyatama, Jakarta – Indonesian Health Ministry confirms the 68 additional Omicron cases, totaling the number to 136 people. The ministry's Covid-19 vaccination spokesman, Siti Nadia Tarmidzi, stated that the new cases were international travelers and 11 of them are Indonesian citizens.
"All cases are international travelers, with the majority of the arrivals are from Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and the United States," Nadia said Saturday, January 1, 2022.
Citing WHO data, Nadia stated there is the possibility of a rapid increase of Omicron cases. This was based on the prediction of Covid case spike due to Omicron variant compared to Delta by calculating the transmission and risk rates.
But this is in line with the lower occupancy of hospital or ICU beds compared to that during the Delta case period. It means that the Omicron variant has a high transmission rate but with a lower risk of severe illness, Nadia added.
However, the people are reminded to remain alerted as the situation may change swiftly. Therefore, the control and prevention, as well as other mitigation measures must continue. She calls on the public to refrain from taveling to countries with a high Omicron transmission.
"Don't be selfish, [we] have to refrain from traveling to countries with high transmission rate of Covid-19 such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United Arab Emirate, and the United States. We have to work together to protect our loved ones from contracting to COVID-19," Nadia remarked.