The discovery of locally transmitted cases has increased the risk of a spike in cases the new variant poses, with children among the most at risk.
By
AHMAD ARIF
·4 minutes read
Kompas/Priyombodo
An elementary school student looks afraid of syringes when receiving the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine which was held at SD Negeri Larangan Selatan 03, Larangan, Tangerang City, Banten, Wednesday (29/12/2021). There are 21 new cases of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 in Indonesia, bringing the total to 68 cases.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Indonesia recorded 21 new cases of the highly contagious coronavirus variant Omicron on Wednesday, bringing the total tally to 68 cases. Although all of the new cases involved overseas travelers, the discovery of locally transmitted cases has increased the risk of a spike in cases the new variant poses, with children among the most at risk.
In response, the government has urged the public not to travel abroad for the time being.
"We have found 21 confirmed cases of the Covid-19 variant, Omicron. All came from abroad. Most of the cases were from Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates," Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said in Jakarta on Wednesday (12/29/2021).
According to the Health Ministry’s Covid-19 vaccination spokesperson, Siti Nadia Tarmizi said that the 21 new Omicron cases comprised 16 Indonesians and five foreign nationals. People who were confirmed to have Omicron had generally traveled from Saudi Arabia and Turkey, she added.
"For [the sake of] our friends in Indonesia, please spend your holiday at home because the overseas risk [of Omicron infection] is high. It poses a risk not only to ourselves, but also our family and neighbors when we return,” Budi said.
Kompas/Priyombodo
The vaccinator injects the Covid-19 vaccine into online motorcycle taxi drivers during a mass vaccination activity for transportation sector workers at the Poris Plawad terminal, Tangerang City, Banten, Thursday (4/3/2021).
Tightening supervision
Responding to the increased detection of Omicron cases among international travelers, the government has tightened supervision at all points of entry, especially at the country’s sea and land borders. "The positivity rate [of one case infecting others] at sea and land entry points is 10 times higher than by air," the minister said.
Earlier, the government had announced the discovery of the first locally transmitted Omicron cases. Those infected with the new virus variant had no recent history of overseas travel, nor did they have any contact with international travelers.
The first confirmed Omicron case was a 37-year-old male resident of Medan, North Sumatra, who was visiting Jakarta. He and wife visited Jakarta at least once a month. The patient was currently being treated at Dr. Sulianti Saroso Infectious Diseases Hospital in Jakarta. Contact tracing was being carried out, including places the patient had visited during the past 14 days.
According to Nadia, the man’s wife had also tested positive for Covid-19 recently. "However, the variant that has infected her is still unknown, pending the results of further genomic tests," she said.
Meanwhile, Coordinating Human Development and Culture Minister Muhadjir Effendy said that the discovery of locally transmitted Omicron cases would not change the government policies for the Christmas and New Year 2022 holiday season. It was deemed that the pandemic was still under control.
According to Nadia, one of the obstacles to detecting Omicron was the limited number of laboratories that could analyze polymerase chain reaction PCR tests for S Gene Target Failure (SGTF) and run whole genome sequencing (WGS).
“Currently, there are only 12 laboratories that can run [the SGTF method] in Java and Bali. We will add 15 laboratories for SGTF and 12 additional laboratories for [conducting] WGS analyses," she said.
KOMPAS/RIZA FATHONI
A number of joint officers from the Police and the Transportation Service checked the Covid-19 vaccine certificate for bus passengers crossing the Jalan Raya Rengas Bandung, East Cikarang, Bekasi Regency, West Java, Monday (27/12/2021). The vaccine raid was carried out until January 2, 2022 to anticipate the increase in cases of the Omicron variant.
Spike in pediatric cases
Epidemiologist Dicky Budiman at Australia’s Griffith University urged the country to be aware of a potential spike in cases among children. "Many countries have been seeing an increase in Covid-19 cases in children," he said.
A fivefold increase in pediatric Covid-19 cases was reported in New York this month, with cases in children nearly doubling in Washington. The United States’ national average for the increased number of children hospitalized with Covid-19 had risen 48 percent in the past week.
According to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released Tuesday (28/12), an average 305 children with Covid-19 had been admitted to hospitals over the week that ended on 26 Dec. This was an increase of more than 48 percent compared to the previous week.
An increase in Covid-19 cases in children was also reported in the United Kingdom. A total of 999 children were hospitalized for Covid-19 this month. On 21 Dec., 88 children were admitted to hospitals. It was the highest single-day increase in pediatric cases during the pandemic.
"The impact of Omicron in children is relatively the same as that of other variants, and includes the risk of long Covid. However, because many children have not been vaccinated, the risk is greater than for other population groups,” said Dicky.
Data from South Africa also showed that Omicron in unvaccinated children could have a very serious impact. Over the last two weeks, 21 children in South Africa have died from Covid-19, accounting for 3 percent of total deaths.
Dicky also pointed out that, as with previous waves of infection, the risks of Covid-19 transmission and mortality among children was also great. (SKA)
This article was translated by Hendarsyah Tarmizi.
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