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Govt pivots to harm reduction as Omicron cases rise
Minister Luhut said the government would shift its focus away from containing the virus and toward limiting hospitalization and death rates.
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Medical personnel walk toward an ambulance assigned to pick up COVID-19 patients at the Patriot Candrabhaga Stadium in Bekasi, West Java, on Oct. 2, 2021. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
T
he government has further reduced the quarantine period for international arrivals and plans to repurpose quarantine facilities into isolation centers to ease the burden on hospitals, as authorities alter their pandemic assessment indicators amid a third wave of COVID-19 transmission.
Indonesia is experiencing a spike in infections that is largely attributable to the highly contagious Omicron strain of the coronavirus. The daily number of new recorded cases jumped from 3,000 on Jan. 24 to more than 16,000 on Tuesday, according to official data – the largest increase in over five months.
But the government has declined to impose stricter curbs, citing the relative mildness of Omicron cases, the lower hospitalization rate and progress in the national vaccination drive.
Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Pandjaitan told reporters on Monday that vaccinated international travelers would now be subject to five days of quarantine, down from the previous seven, while those who had only a first vaccine dose would have to quarantine for seven days.
He said the ministry had made the decision based on the Omicron variant’s incubation period of three to four days.
“This step to shorten the quarantine also takes into account the need to reallocate resources. Places previously used to quarantine travelers will now be used for centralized isolation,” Luhut said.
The minister, who oversees the pandemic response for Java and Bali, was optimistic about the country’s pandemic situation, despite predictions that transmission over the coming weeks could be three times higher than the Delta variant-fueled second wave in July of last year, which peaked at around 56,000 cases.
