The Health Ministry has announced that there has been one new Omicron case from the local transmission, with no history of overseas travel.
The news was delivered by the COVID-19 spokesperson for the Health Ministry Dr. Siti Nadia Tarmizi in a virtual press conference on Tuesday 28th December.
“So far, we have found 47 cases of Omicron, 46 imported cases from overseas travel, and one due to local transmission – without a history of foreign travel,” said Tarmizi.
Tarmizi explained that the locally-infected patient with the Omicron variant is a 27-year-old man from Medan and has been living in an apartment in North Jakarta. He reportedly has no history of traveling abroad in the last few months.
The patient traveled from Medan to Jakarta on 6th December 2021 with a negative antigen test result. On 17th December, he visited a restaurant in the Sudirman Central Business District (SCBD) area.
Then, on 19th December, the man took an antigen test to travel back to Medan from Jakarta. The antigen test showed a positive result thus he was required to do a PCR test on 20th December, which came back positive.
During the process of the various tests being carried out, as well as with the many activities he did, this man did not experience any symptoms.
“After getting a positive PCR test result, the person concerned was examined with the S-gene Target Failure (SGTF) test and the result was positive. He was sent to Suliato Saroso Hospital to be quarantined and observed,” she added.
The patient, Tarmizi continued, initially refused to evacuate to Surlianto Saroso Hospital. After being educated about the importance of observing the infection, he finally agreed.
“Hospital facilities are better for observing this first case. In principle, infection control in hospitals will be better, that’s why he wasn’t sent to Wisma Atlet COVID-19 Hospital,” she said.
While the patient is being observed at the hospital, the authorities have continued to trace those who had close contact with the patient in places he carried out his activities.