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Govt ramps up COVID-19 surveillance as Omicron threat looms
The Health Ministry is working on enhancing its COVID-19 surveillance to effectively detect and contain the spread of the Omicron variant at an early stage, as more countries across the globe detect the new virus variant.
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Virus control: Visitors are allowed to enter shopping malls by using the PeduliLindungi app as part of attempts to curb COVID-19. (Kompas.com/Garry Lotulung)
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he Health Ministry is working on enhancing its COVID-19 surveillance to effectively detect and contain the spread of Omicron at an early stage as more countries across the globe detect the new virus variant.
Health authorities are aiming to improve its relatively poor contact tracing by working together with village supervisory non-commissioned officers (Babinsa) and public order officers (Bhabinkamtibmas), according to Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin.
"We need to strengthen our contact tracing and increase the number of patients' close contacts who were tested for COVID-19 so that we can find new cases as soon as possible," Budi said as quoted from a copy of his presentation for a Health Ministry meeting on Monday.
The ideal contact tracing ratio recommended by the World Health Organization is 30:1. This means that for each person who tests positive for COVID-19, a minimum of 30 people should be identified and traced as a close contact, defined as within 1 meter for 15 minutes or more.
Indonesia's contact tracing ratio currently varies greatly from one province to another. Bali, for example, can trace on average six close contacts per confirmed case, but Jakarta can find an average of 17 close contacts per case.
Budi said the ministry was also seeking to carry out more whole-genome sequencing, especially in regions with a higher risk of seeing another surge of infections, even though Indonesia has yet to report any Omicron cases.
Read also: Government should expand surveillance capacity in response to Omicron, experts say
