Quarantine Needs Close Monitoring

KOMPAS/AGUS SUSANTO

A number of residents crossed the quarantine zone boundary at the Nagrak Flats, Cilincing, North Jakarta, Sunday (9/1/2022). New cases of transmission of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 continue to grow.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – The government has heightened surveillance at points of entry and tightened quarantine for international travelers amid surges in Covid-19 cases caused by the Omicron variant being reported around the world, including in a number of neighboring countries.

National Covid-19 task force spokesperson Wiku Adisasmito said in Jakarta on Tuesday (11/1/2022) that 88 percent of the 414 Omicron cases in Indonesia were detected in international travelers.

The risk of further imported cases from overseas needed to be reduced to prevent wider spread of the Omicron variant.

"The government has imposed special handling at nine entry points to Indonesian territory by sorting confirmed cases among international travelers and domestic [cases] as a whole," Wiku said, adding that the move was part of measures to control community mobility.

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The government has readied a contingency plan in the event of a spike in caseload by enhancing access to quarantine facilities, telemedicine, centralized isolation facilities, and self-isolation services.

After experiencing a lull in infections, Indonesia has resumed high vigilance against Covid-19 after the number of new cases climbed over the past few weeks. Last week, new cases averaged 3,000, compared to a weekly rolling average of 1,200 new cases in the previous two weeks.

In Jakarta, new Omicron cases as of 1 Jan. reached 498, of which 82.1 percent, or 409 cases, were detected in international travelers.

KOMPAS/AGUS SUSANTO

Health quarantine place for foreign travelers at the Nagrak Flats, Cilincing, North Jakarta, Sunday (9/1/2022). New cases of transmission of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 continue to grow, mainly from foreign travelers such as Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

Wiku appealed to the public to postpone any plans to travel abroad, especially to countries reporting a surge in Covid-19 cases.

At least 12 countries have reported a high increase in their weekly caseload, including Canada, the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands.

Neighboring countries such as Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore were also reporting surges in Covid-19 cases. Vietnam was also grappling with an increase in the number of deaths.

"Indeed, the surge in global cases calls for our vigilance. It is evident that increases have also been observed in countries that border Indonesia. Indonesia has so far managed to keep the situation [under control], but this does not mean we are free from the threat of a third spike," Wiku said.

Also read:

> Mitigating of Threat Omicron Tsunami

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Omicron epicenter

The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe has warned of a wave of infections of the Omicron coronavirus variant on the continent over the next two months, with the worst-case scenario being that half of the continent's 746 million people would be infected.

“At this rate, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) forecasts that more than 50 percent of the population in the region will be infected with Omicron in the next six to eight weeks," WHO Europe director Hans Kluge said.

WHO Europe covers 53 countries and territories as well as several others in Central Asia. As many as 50 countries and territories reported confirmed cases of the Omicron variant, making Europe the current global epicenter of the Covid-19 pandemic. In fact, 26 countries reported that as much as 1 percent of the population was contracting Covid-19 every week.

KOMPAS/PRADIPTA PANDU

Overseas passengers who had just arrived at Terminal 3 of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Tangerang, Friday (12/24/2021), were waiting in line before being directed to the Covid-19 Emergency Hospital (RSDC) Wisma Atlet, Jakarta, to undergo treatment. quarantine.

In the first week of 2022, the region saw over 7 million new cases with the surge persisting to double the figure the following week.

Kluge called for governments to keep to the Covid-19 control measures and pursue full vaccination for the entire population.

The WHO also asked rich countries to delay booster dose programs and set aside the vaccine supply intended for such programs to distribute to poor and developing countries so they could achieve the goal of vaccinating 70 percent of the population.

Vaccines are still deemed the key protective measure against severe COVID-19. Kluge said that in Denmark, where WHO Europe is based, the hospitalization rate was six times higher for people who were not vaccinated.

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While European countries are busy debating what steps to take, China is maintaining its measure of closing every region with Covid-19 cases, given the fact that apart from 80 percent of the Chinese population being fully vaccinated, the number of unvaccinated people was the equivalent of the entire population of Indonesia. The government is not willing to risk uncontrolled virus transmission.

In Australia, 500,000 of the total 1.1 million confirmed cases had reportedly emerged in the last two weeks. Tuesday (11/1) alone recorded 86,000 new cases, prompting Victoria State Premier Daniel Andrews to refer to the situation as a crisis. He also stated that 4,000 health workers and 400 ambulance drivers had entered self-isolation.

In the United States, authorities were reportedly struggling with the virus’ spread as well as against general public resistance to mandatory vaccination and face mask policies. (TAN/DNE/HLN/DAN/VIO/AFP)

This article was translated by Musthofid.