Indonesia: 3 New Omicron Variant Cases Are All Imported

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – Indonesia has detected three Covid-19 omicron variant cases following the Health Ministry’s announcement on Dec.16 and Dec.18.

The first case, which was confirmed last Thursday, was found in a cleaner working at the Wisma Atlet Covid-19 emergency hospital, a quarantine center for travelers arriving from overseas.

Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin confirmed that the cleaner who is identified by initial N contracted the virus from an Indonesian traveler who returned from Nigeria on November 27.

“We can confirm that on Dec. 8 the cleaner contracted the virus from a female Indonesian national who came back from Nigeria on Nov. 27,” Budi told a virtual press conference on Monday, Dec. 20.

Also read: New Study Says Omicron Variant Grows Faster in Airway Passages

At the time, the ministry was also monitoring five probable cases of the omicron variant. Two days after, the ministry confirmed that two of the five probable cases were omicron variants with travel history from South America and the UK. The two most recent confirmed patients are males who are identified by initials IKWJ (42) and M (50).

“Currently they are undergoing quarantine at Jakarta’s Wisma Atlet,” said the health ministry’s spokesperson for the Covid-19 vaccination program Siti Nadia Tarmizi in a statement on Saturday, Dec. 18.

She said the two had tested positive for the omicron variant when undergoing the quarantine for 10 days.

Imported cases

Given the data of the omicron variant in the country, the health minister confirmed that the three cases of omicron variant are all imported cases with travel history from Nigeria, South America, and the UK.