VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

State Secretary Minister Pratikno spoke of President Joko Widodo's (Jokowi's) directives to ministers to stay vigilant and respond quickly as a precautionary measure against the new variants: Coronavirus, Omicron, or variant B.1.1.529.

"Ministers must be alerted and always follow the dynamics on the field and react quickly to any possible occasion," Pratikno noted at the State Palace on Wednesday.

On Wednesday morning, Jokowi had summoned several ministers, including Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Panjaitan, Coordinating Minister for the Economy Affairs Airlangga Hartarto, Minister of Foreign Affairs represented by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Mahendra Siregar, and other relevant ministers to discuss the Omicron variant.

The head of state also urged the ministers to study the cases of Omicron currently emerging in other countries, Pratikno stated.

“The point is that we must always remain vigilant and on alert according to our existing capacity. Further explanations will be provided by the relevant ministers," Pratikno remarked.

Jokowi also urged his staff to continue to expedite COVID-19 vaccination for the public and ensure the implementation of health protocols in the community.

In addition, the head of state requested hospitals to always be ready for a spike in COVID-19 cases, Pratikno stated.

"Hence, if there is an increase in the number of cases, the hospital is always on standby," he stated.

Earlier, the government had implemented a policy as a precautionary measure against the spread of imported cases and new variants of the coronavirus.

The policy temporarily suspends foreign citizens, with a travel history in the last 14 days to South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia and Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, Indonesian citizens, with a history of traveling to these countries in the last 14 days, are still allowed to return to Indonesia, with the obligation to undergo quarantine for 14 days.

Foreigners and Indonesian citizens from other countries not mentioned above are required to undergo quarantine for 7x24 hours.  (Antaranews)