40 Int'l Flights Passengers Tested Positive for Covid-19: Soekarno-Hatta Office

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Soekarno-Hatta Port Health Office found that 40 passengers of international flights tested positive for Covid-19 throughout November. Authorities said the passengers are Indonesians as well as foreign nationals.

The 40 foreigners and Indonesian citizens who tested positive are currently in isolation and or in treatment at the Wisma Atlet Pademangan.

"The 40 positive samples were found since we implemented prevention of the entry of variant B.1.1.529 of Covid-19, or the Omicron, into Indonesian territory at the end of November," Soekarno Hatta Airport's Port Health Office (KKP) chied dr. Darmawali Handoko said on Thursday, December 9.

Darmawali said all positive samples were immediately sent to the Health Ministry's Health Research and Development Agency for genome sequencing, to determine the variant of the sample.

So far, the Soekarno-Hatta KKP has not received any information about the discovery of the Omicron variant from the positive sample sent to the Health R&D Agency. 

"Until today, we have not received any information from the Research and Development Agency of any genome sequencing result showing the B.1.1.529 variant or commonly known as Omicron," he said.

Darmawali also said that he had not receive information that the Omicron variant has emerged in Indonesia.

Read: Indonesia Imposes Entry Ban to Avoid Omicron Variant, Says Health Ministry

JONIANSYAH (CONTRIBUTOR)