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Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin announced Indonesia's first Omicron case earlier this week. (ANTARA FOTO/Fauzan/nz) - 

A senior legislator has urged the Indonesian government to increase surveillance at international travel entry at airports across the country to stem the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

"Omicron cases have been found in Indonesia. Therefore, we need to be alert at our travel entry, particularly our international airports," Saleh Partaonan Daulay said in a statement that ANTARA received here Saturday.

The member of Commission IX of the House of Representatives overseeing healthcare and manpower expressed concern over reports of suspected Omicron infection in several Chinese migrant workers in Indonesia.

To prevent them from transmitting the new variant of the novel coronavirus disease to others, the migrant workers from Mainland China who arrived in Indonesia must be cautiously isolated, Daulay said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has designated Omicron as a "variant of concern" and to halt its spread, the Indonesian government must suspend the issuance of entry permits to Chinese workers, he added.

"If several of them are allowed to enter Indonesia during the increased risk of Omicron infections, they must be highly-skilled workers whose expertise cannot be substituted by Indonesian workers," he said.

ANTARA has reported earlier that Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin announced Indonesia's first Omicron case on Thursday.

The first person to be infected with the new variant is a janitor working at the Wisma Atlet Kemayoran emergency hospital for COVID-19, he informed.

The case was detected after three workers at the hospital were found positive for COVID-19, he said.

In response to the detection of the first Omicron case, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has asked people to stay calm.

"It is important to be vigilant, but do not panic," he said, adding that so far, the Omicron variant has not caused severe symptoms, especially in patients who have been vaccinated.

He also asked Indonesians to get vaccinated without delay to protect themselves and to continue to implement strict health protocols//ANT