Health Official: Omicron Covid Variant Has Yet to be Found in Indonesia

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – Indonesian health official said that the highly mutated omicron Covid-19 variant has not been found in the country.

The statement was made following erroneous information about the detection of omicron variants in residents of Jakarta.

“It [omicron variant] has not been found so far,” the Health Ministry’s director for prevention and control of direct communicable diseases, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, told Kompas.com on Wednesday, December 8.

Separately, the health ministry’s acting director general for prevention and control of diseases Maxi Rein Rondonuwu said that the omicron variant has not been found yet in the routine genomic surveillance conducted by the ministry. This surveillance strategy aims to track and monitor the transmission of the coronavirus. “So far, we have not found the new omicron variant during the routine genomic surveillance,” Maxi said.

Also read: Indonesia’s Stricter Covid Restrictions during Year-End Holidays Scrapped

Previously, it was reported that the new omicron variant was first detected in South Africa and Botswana. On November 26, 2021, the World Health Organization has classified it as the variant of concern.

The omicron variant has been detected in about two dozen countries, including Germany, Belgium, the UK, Israel, Australia, and Hong Kong.

The Indonesian government has confirmed that the omicron variant has yet been found in the country.

(Writer: Haryanti Puspa Sari | Editor: Diamanty Meiliana)

Source: https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2021/12/08/13424161/kemenkes-varian-omicron-belum-terdeteksi-di-indonesia.