VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo reviews Benoa Port, Bali Province, on January 15, 2022. (ANTARA/HO-Public Relations Division of Indonesian National Police/uyu) - 

National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo urged the Bali Regional Leadership Coordination Forum (Forkopimda) to strengthen the implementation of health protocols and quarantine for overseas travelers to thwart the spread of Omicron.

"We just reviewed the arrival steps set for ship crew members (ABK) and tourists at Benoa Port. We wanted to assess the implementation of health inspection at the entry points for overseas travelers,” Prabowo stated after visiting Benoa Port, Bali Province, on Saturday.

The Police chief remarked that the arrival steps set by the port’s officers comprised an antigen swab test on the ship's travelers.

Furthermore, they are necessitated to conduct PCR tests and health checks in a specially prepared room before being taken to a referral hospital or a quarantine place readied by the Bali provincial government.

To strengthen supervision and to prevent the likelihood of violation of quarantine requirement, the national police chief called on all overseas travelers to install the Presisi Quarantine Monitoring app on their smartphones.

The police also deployed several officers to monitor the quarantined people, he noted.

“If someone gets out of the isolation place before the determined period, we will send a notification through the app, so that the person can immediately be quested and brought back to the quarantine site," he explained.

According to his review at the port, Prabowo acknowledged that health protocols were implemented well at Benoa Port, albeit some adjustments and improvements were still required.

Prabowo remarked that currently, cases of Omicron transmission in Indonesia largely constituted imported cases involving international travelers, who enter the country via the Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Banten Province.

Hence, he emphasized the importance of implementing strict health protocols and quarantine procedures at Benoa Harbor as one of the entry points for the travelers.

On the same occasion, Prabowo lauded the hard work of Bali Forkopimda in ensuring that the isolation process for travelers ran well.

The national police chief noted that the steps were taken to protect the public from being exposed to the virus.

"The attempts require synergy and solidity from all stakeholders. In addition, the community must remain vigilant. Although they have been vaccinated twice, they must continue to follow the health protocols. The government has also provided booster vaccinations,” he added//ANT

Illustration - An officer checks a Base Transceiver Station (BTS) tower. ANTARA/HO-Telkom/aa - 

The Ministry of Communication and Informatics has ensured that the information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure for the 2022 Mandalika MotoGP event is 100-percent ready.

Director-General of Information and Public Communication at the Ministry of Communication and Informatics Usman Kansong highlighted that the ministry had readied the 4-MHz frequency spectrum and coordinated with several operators in the Mandalika area, Central Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, in a bid to ensure smooth communication during the race.

“It (the ICT infrastructure) is ready. We are also preparing it not only for March 2022 when the MotoGP takes place but also for the pre-elimination or pre-season testing in February 2022," he noted in a press release quoted on Saturday.

Moreover, the ministry continues to strengthen the ICT infrastructure in areas and villages around the Mandalika circuit.

Kansong deemed it vital to ready supporting infrastructure around the circuit area, as several inns or homestays will be accommodating numerous visitors during the event.

He also affirmed that the Ministry of Communication and Informatics continues to make efforts to ensure that people have access to information on the Mandalika MotoGP event.

Such efforts encompass producing news and collaborating with several parties to encourage the main mass media and social media to report on the Mandalika MotoGP event, including reporting on details, such as accommodation availability, ticket availability, ticket prices, homestays, and other related information.

“Relatively, these have been reported when President Joko Widodo was there, including the plans made by the organizers and the government to anticipate the enthusiasm of the Indonesian people and the world community spectating the Mandalika MotoGP," Kansong stated.

The 2022 Mandalika MotoGP will be held on March 18-20, 2022, at the Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit, Central Lombok District, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) Province//ANT

FILE PHOTO: People queue to collect coronavirus disease (COVID-19) antigen test kits at the Hazeldean Mall in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada January 7, 2022. REUTERS/Patrick Doyle - 

Canada will see a surge in cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in coming weeks which could put significant new strains on the healthcare system, chief public health officer Theresa Tam said on Friday (Jan 14).

Tam told a news briefing that scenarios suggested the wave might peak before receding into February.

New daily cases of COVID-19 have jumped to a record 37,500, which is most likely much less than the true number, given constraints in testing capacity across the country, she added.

"A large surge of rapidly accelerating Omicron cases is forecast for Canada in the coming weeks," Tam said.

Even though Omicron is less severe than the Delta variant it has replaced, it is much more infectious, and the sheer number of new hospitalizations "could result in significant levels of healthcare strain in the coming weeks," she said.

More than 6.5 million eligible Canadians have had less than two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, she said. Official data show that 87.6 per cent of those aged 12 and older had received two shots as of Jan 1//CNA

Health workers move equipment between ambulances outside of the Royal London Hospital, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in London, Britain, January 7, 2022. REUTERS/Toby Melville - 

Young children and babies are proportionally more likely to be hospitalised with Omicron compared to older children than with previous variants but the cases are still mild, British researchers said, adding the overall picture was reassuring.

Omicron has spread rapidly in Britain and fuelled a spike in cases to record highs, though the variant is less severe than previous ones, and high vaccination levels among adults have also helped to limit the rise in hospitalisations. Children are less vulnerable than older adults to COVID-19.

The study released on Friday (Jan 14), which was shared with government advisers, found there had been an increased proportion of young children admitted to hospital in the last four weeks, driven by babies under one.

Of children hospitalised with COVID-19, 42 per cent were under 1, compared to around 30 per cent in previous waves, the early data showed, though the researchers emphasised that the illnesses were mild.

"These are not particularly sick infants. In fact, they're coming in for short periods of time," study author Calum Semple, Professor in Child Health and Outbreak Medicine, University of Liverpool, told reporters, adding that the proportion requiring oxygen was falling.

The vaccination of over-12s might explain some of the proportional fall in older children going to hospital, Semple said, but it doesn't explain it all.

Russell Viner, Professor of Child and Adolescent Health, UCL, said that the trend was likely in part because Omicron symptoms might resemble the sort of respiratory conditions that would encourage parents to bring in babies to hospital as a precaution, whereas clinical pathways for older children would not bring them to hospital with such mild symptoms.

He added that the data was very early and could change.

"A very rapid review of clinical data is extremely reassuring," Viner told reporters//CNA