Day: January 21, 2022

The work-from-home (WFH) policy needs to be implemented more flexibly amid the recent spike in cases caused by Omicron transmission, Labor Institute Indonesia executive secretary Andy William Sinaga has said.

“With the increasing number of cases due to the transmission of the Omicron variant, I think the government needs to re-create a more flexible work from home policy. This means that WFH doesn’t need to be up to 100 percent, but only 50 percent. Meanwhile, the implementation of health protocols needs to be monitored more closely,” Sinaga said when contacted from here on Friday.

Preventive measures need to be taken to ensure occupational safety and health (K3) aspects amid the COVID-19 spike, the executive secretary of the non-governmental organization added.

He cited the example of booster vaccinations as an effort to prevent the spread of the Omicron variant among workers.

The implementation of the health protocols also needs to be tightened in workplaces enforcing work from office (WFO), he said. Labor inspectors have an important role in ensuring their implementation, he added.

“The point is that it is necessary to enforce the health protocols in the workplace. Meanwhile, labor inspectors need to supervise their implementation,” said the observer.

President Joko Widodo, in a press statement issued on Tuesday, had appealed to the public to reduce activities in crowded areas and also suggested working from home to reduce the risk of transmission of Omicron, which spreads more quickly.

“If you all don’t have urgent activities, maybe it’s better to reduce activities in crowded centers and for those who can work from home, you can work from home,” the President remarked.

Source: Antara News

The Surabaya city government continues to take preventive steps to thwart the spread of the Omicron variant by conducting random swab tests in the city’s residential areas.

“Random testing will be prioritized for areas where cases of Omicron were earlier found. We will not test all residents in all areas, and it will be random testing,” Surabaya Mayor Eri Cahyadi stated at the Surabaya City Hall on Friday.

Cahyadi said his administration is still deliberating on the plan with the Surabaya Health Service regarding the randomized swab schedule in the city.

“Whether the residents are healthy or sick, we will conduct random swab tests on them,” he stated.

Apart from conducting random swab tests to prevent a spike in Omicron cases, the mayor also encouraged the community to strengthen the movement called Kampung Tangguh Task Force. This preventive measure is being taken to control the entry and exit of residents from outside.

“The Kampung Tangguh Task Force aims to protect the residence. Residents entering the residence must be willing to be tested,” Cahyadi explained.

However, Cahyadi did not prohibit his citizens from traveling outside the city for important matters. The mayor also reminded the residents to always implement health protocols.

“If they need to go out of town, please always wear masks and implement other health protocols to protect yourself and the people around you as well,” Cahyadi emphasized.

The mayor explained that the Omicron patients in Surabaya were in good condition, with high CT values. In fact, the Omicron patients were declared asymptomatic, which means they did not experience any symptoms, which Cahyadi reasoned was due to the full dose of vaccination received by patients.

“That is why I remind all Surabaya residents to immediately receive the vaccination to avoid severe symptoms of COVID-19,” he added.

Source: Antara News

No additional cases of COVID-19 have been reported in West Bangka district in the past week, the district’s COVID-19 task force has reported.

“Since January 15, 2022, until today, the number of patients is still four. There have been no additions (of cases) and no one has recovered or completed isolation,” spokesperson for the task force, M. Putra Kusuma, informed in Mentok on Friday.

The four patients, who are currently undergoing isolation, were diagnosed during tracing conducted by officers for previous patients, who are also undergoing isolation and treatment, he said.

Of the four patients, two are from Mentok sub-district, one from Parittiga, and one from Tempilang, he added.

Of the 5,655 cases of COVID-19 recorded in the district since the start of the pandemic, 5,510 have recovered or have completed quarantine, while 141 have succumbed to the disease, he disclosed.

The percentage of patients who have recovered has been quite high, he noted. However, he reminded people to participate in the COVID-19 vaccination program, which is currently still being run at vaccine outlets in all sub-districts.

Kusuma said he expected that in the next few weeks, all vaccination targets would be reached. First dose vaccinations for children aged 6–11 are almost complete and efforts are being boosted for administering the second dose, he added.

Source: Antara News

Minister of Health, Budi Gunadi Sadikin, has urged all parties to remain wary of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 given its fast transmission rate.

“Omicron has entered Indonesia and there are already local transmissions, not just imported cases. In the entire world, Omicron’s characteristic is that it spreads fast,” he noted here on Friday.

As the new COVID-19 variant has entered Indonesia, all elements of society, such as the public, the government, and related stakeholders, should prepare to prevent its spread, he said.

However, he urged the public to remain calm saying that while Omicron has a fast infection rate, it also declines just as quickly.

Based on observations in other countries, Omicron infections peak on the 40th day, Sadikin noted.

So, there is a possibility that the variant will reach its height in Indonesia at the end of February or the start of March, the minister informed.

What should be done to prevent infection is maintaining stringent health protocols, primarily by wearing masks, avoiding crowds, and maintaining distance, he said.

Moreover, health tests should also be continued so that people who are exposed can immediately be isolated to prevent further spread, he added.

“Do not be afraid to be tested. If the result is positive, isolate yourself because you can recover quickly,” Sadikin affirmed.

“If you live in a large house, you can isolate at home. If not, you can do it at an isolation center or at a shelter,” he added.

COVID-19 vaccinations also continue to be expedited because if people are vaccinated, they would have immunity against COVID-19, he noted.

“If the cases rise significantly, then you should limit your mobility,” he added.

Source: Antara News

The Indonesian Government has expedited the implementation of the vaccination drive, including booster shot offers, following the surfacing of the new COVID-19 variant called Omicron that has spread in several countries.

Optimizing the vaccination campaign has become increasingly urgent, as the nation has reported a nearly fivefold increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in the past three weeks, according to the COVID-19 Handling Task Force.

The number of COVID-19 cases had increased, from 1,123 to 5,454 in the past three weeks, spokesperson for the COVID-19 Handling Task Force, Wiku Adisasmito, stated on January 20, 2022.

The number of active COVID-19 cases this week reached 8,605, an increase of three thousand as compared to the previous week when the number of cases totalled 5,494. The spread of COVID-19 in Indonesia is mostly due to local transmission.

The first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Indonesia in March 2020. As of January 20, 2022, at least 4,277,644 people had tested positive for COVID-19 in the country, while 4,121,117 people had recovered, and 144,199 people had succumbed to the virus.

The Health Ministry detected the first Omicron case in Indonesia on December 15, 2021. As of January 20, 2022, the ministry has recorded as many as 882 Omicron cases in the country.

Based on data from the COVID-19 Task Force, as of January 20, a total of 179,153,744 Indonesians had received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and 122,378,266 people had received the second dose.

Overall, the government is targeting to fully vaccinate 208,265,720 Indonesians out of the nation’s population of over 273 million.

In addition, 1,328,659, or 90.46 percent of the health workers have been administered the booster vaccine.

The Indonesian government, on January 12, 2022, rolled out booster vaccinations for the public, in general, who have completed six months since having received the second COVID-19 dose.

Booster vaccinations, which are free and not mandatory, aim to offer additional protection to individuals amid the emergence of the Omicron strain.

The National Agency of Drug and Food Control (BPOM) has issued emergency-use authorization (EUA) for five COVID-19 vaccines for use as booster shots.

The five vaccines are Sinovac’s CoronaVac, reproduced by state-run vaccine manufacturer PT Bio Farma, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Moderna, and Zifivax.

Meanwhile, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has urged residents to get their COVID-19 booster vaccine to increase the body’s immunity against the disease when the efficacy of the first two vaccine doses starts to decline.

“During the pandemic, vaccination is also important. Those who are yet to be vaccinated, go get your vaccine; while those who have received their first vaccine dose, get your second dose; and those who have completed the two doses, promptly get your booster dose,” Jokowi emphasized.

Indonesia is currently experiencing a surge in the number of COVID-19 cases due to the newly emerging Omicron variant, he added.

He reminded Indonesians to remain vigilant yet to not overreact to the current situation. The president pointed out that some medical researches, including a WHO report about the virus variant, revealed that the Omicron variant’s transmission rate is higher than that of other virus strains.

Four strategies against Omicron

To handle and prevent the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, the Indonesian government is applying four strategies: stringent health protocols (washing hands, wearing masks, and social distancing), surveillance (testing, tracing, and self-isolating), vaccination, and treatment.

Moreover, the government has tightened quarantine for international travelers since 98 percent of the Omicron cases in Indonesia have been imported, according to Communication and Informatics Minister Johnny G. Plate .

Hence, quarantine centers are being readied in Jakarta, Surabaya, Batam, and Entikong in addition to increasing the number of PCR test kits to identify Omicron cases.

“The test kits are being distributed to all main entry points across the country in order to identify Omicron cases faster, he remarked.

The government has also raised the number of genome sequencing kits to accelerate and expand testing networks outside Java.

It is also accelerating and expanding national vaccination campaigns targeting people, who run a high risk of being exposed to COVID-19, he affirmed.

Health facilities and hospitals, including beds, medicines, and oxygen, have been readied as a precautionary measure against a case spike, he stated.

In the meantime, spokesperson for COVID-19 handling Reisa Broto remarked that the government had guaranteed the availability of COVID-19 antiviral drugs in the country as a precautionary measure against the next wave of COVID-19 cases.

“These efforts include preparing new antiviral drugs, such as Molnupiravir and Paxlovid, wherein the Ministry of Health had secured 400 thousand Molnupiravir tablets readied by PT Amarox,” she stated.

Asmoro is optimistic that all requirements for drugs would be met through domestic production in April or May 2022.

“This progress is a source of encouragement for us all to continue to surmount this pandemic,” she stated.

Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin has also confirmed the government’s readiness to deal with omicron by saying that production of the S-Gene Target Failure, or PCR test, for virus detection in four to six hours, as an early indication of the Omicron variant, would be completed by January-end of 2022.

“Now that we have prepared it, the production is expected to be completed by the end of this month, and later on, we will distribute it,” the minister remarked.

Sadikin noted that the SGTF tool is a solution to detect the Omicron variant in Indonesia following the use of genome sequencing tools that were relatively expensive and took longer periods of time to produce results, ranging from six to seven days.

“Genome sequencing is only available in 12 laboratories and one test for one reagent costs Rp5 million to Rp6 million,” he remarked.

The minister explained that it took a long period of time to produce genome sequencing results, as Indonesia had only 12 specialized genome sequencing laboratories, with 15 units of test kits.

On the other hand, the PCR test kits cost around Rp300 thousand each, with the number of examination laboratories reaching 1,100 in Indonesia.

“Now, the question is do we want to use genome sequencing? Actually, it is not necessarily needed, (from an) epidemiology (point of view),” he affirmed.

The minister highlighted the need for the genome sequencing method to determine the pattern of the variant’s transmission and adopt early prevention measures.

Sadikin remarked that the COVID-19 detection method, using both antigen and PCR tests, is still effective.

The Health Ministry has urged the people to maintain discipline in implementing health protocols and to limit their mobility including to not travel overseas if not necessary, amid the threat of Omicron in particular.

Source: Antara News