Micro Lockdown 'A Possibility' If Omicron Spreads Broader: Govt

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Pandjaitan in Monday’s press conference said the government is set to enact a micro-scale lockdown to better curb the spread of the Omicron variant once local transmission is detected. 

“The micro-level lockdown such as the one enacted at Wisma Atlet can be implemented [in a broader area] if local transmission of Omicron has emerged,” said the minister in the press conference on December 27. 

Up to this day, Indonesia has logged 46 confirmed cases of Omicron transmission, which mostly came from people who returned from traveling overseas, while a smaller number of the confirmed cases were workers at the Wisma Atlet who were infected by them. 

“I highly urge people to take notice of this, we shall not travel to other countries for vacation, with the exception of urgent work-related matters that require us to travel,” Luhut asserted. 

He reminded the public that the government has deployed personnel across a wide range of entry points into Indonesia to closely monitor the mobility of people from international travel. Quarantine proceedings are also tightly monitored to prevent future escapees from quarantine facilities. 

Despite this, Luhut Pandjaitan remains optimistic that the Omicron variant will not spark another wave of coronavirus cases. “It’s been 164 days and cases have remained low since the peak of the Delta variant back in July 15. There has been no indications yet of an ‘Omicron wave’,” he said.

Read: Foreign Entrance Surveillance Beefed Up as Omicron Cases Grow

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