TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan during a visit to a Chinese Temple in Central Jakarta on Tuesday urged Jakartans to avert from panicking amidst the growing number of Covid-19 cases, especially the ones driven by the Omicron variant the past several days.

The governor, according to an Antaranews report, acknowledged cities in other parts of the world have also logged a rising number of coronavirus cases but can be suppressed by implementing strict health protocols.

“We have witnessed cases in other cities in the globe have grown rapidly. On another note, do not panic as symptoms are generally milder, some have even shown asymptomatic cases,” said Anies in his visit to the Hian Thian SIang Tee Bio Chinese temple (Kelenteng) on February 1.

However, he urged residents of the capital city to immediately test themselves and commit to self-isolation to prevent spreading to a larger part of the community. People who may show more serious symptoms are urged to seek healthcare at local health community facilities (Puskesmas) or hospitals.

Anies Baswedan believes the Capital's hospital bed occupation ratio currently remains under control and hopes stricter mobility restriction policies will not be needed to overcome the spread of Omicron. As of Monday, Jakarta logged 2,892 cases of Omicron infections with 1,581 of them coming from international arrivals while the rest came from local transmissions.

Read: PDIP Slams Anies Baswedan's Visit to PPP Yogyakarta amid Soaring Omicron Cases

ANTARA