Omicron BA.4, BA.5 Won't Trigger New COVID-19 Wave: Health Ministry

TEMPO.CO, Yogyakarta - The Health Ministry expressed optimism that the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants did not have the potential to trigger a new wave of COVID-19 in Indonesia albeit they are more contagious than the Omicron original strain.

“The bed occupation rate is below 3 percent. There is no upward trend as in the previous case,” said the Health Ministry’s Secretary of Public Health Directorate and G20 spokesperson for Health, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, on the sidelines of a press conference for the first meeting of the G20 Health Ministers at Yogyakarta Marriot Hotel on Monday, June 20, 2022.

Nadia acknowledged there is a potential for a surge in cases of the Omicron subvariants. Indonesia, for example, recorded more than 1,000 new infections over the past few days. However, the government localized patients to prevent a spike in cases.

Additionally, supervision was carried out on patients showing moderate and severe symptoms at the hospital. Moreover, Nadia claimed public immunity has reached 98 percent.

Based on these three reasons, despite the spike in cases, the Health Ministry did not see the potential for a new COVID-19 wave.

“The government continues to intensify the testing and surveillance system. The public must continue to comply with health protocols, such as wearing masks,” she underlined.

In a previous statement, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said the peak of the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 transmission in South Africa was about a third of the peak of the Delta and Omicron (BA.1 and BA.2) variants.

SHINTA MAHARANI (KONTRIBUTOR)

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