Indonesia Detects Omicron's First Local Transmission

Jakarta, MINA – Indonesian Ministry of Health detected the first local transmission case of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 in the country on a domestic traveler to Medan-Jakarta.

“The finding of the Omicron case from local transmission occurred in a man who did not have a history of foreign travel nor had any contact with foreign travelers,” said the Director of Prevention and Control of Vector and Zoonotic Diseases of the Directorate General of P2P of the Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarmizi in virtual press conference on Tuesday.

Nadia said the 37-year-old man traveled from Medan and arrived in Jakarta on December 6, 2021. Two weeks later when he was going back to Medan, the result of the antigen test showed a positive result.

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Positive results also reappeared when retested by the PCR method a day later. “On December 26, 2021, based on laboratory results, it was confirmed that the patient was exposed to the Omicron variant,” said Nadia, who also serves as Spokesperson for the Covid-19 Vaccination of the Ministry of Health.

Although the patient did not show symptoms, he was immediately evacuated and isolated at the Sulianto Saroso Hospital. Then, tracing was carried out in the patient’s surroundings while in Jakarta.

This includes restaurants in the SCBD area that patients visited on December 17, 2021. “Restaurant employees as well as health workers who conduct tests on patients will be subjected to PCR tests, in addition to those who have close contact with patients while in Jakarta,” she said. (T/RE1)

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Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)