Jakarta (ANTARA) – The government has made varied efforts comprising expediting vaccination and intensifying telemedicine utilization to combat the surge in COVID-19 cases due to the Omicron variant.

“The government pushes for expediting vaccination, especially the second dose for the elderly and other vulnerable groups, and providing sufficient booster vaccines for all Indonesians,” Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan noted.

At an online press conference on Monday, Pandjaitan remarked that the government had also continued to increase health service facilities at hospitals.

These facilities comprise health workers and medicines as well as to increase the number of beds to be converted for handling COVID-19.

“We have determined that the number of beds will be the same as the ones during the Delta variant spike,” he elaborated.

Moreover, the government has activated centralized isolation facilities to treat asymptomatic patients and people with mild symptoms so as not to burden hospitals.

In addition, the government has encouraged the provision of special lodging facility for health workers, so that they would not contract the Omicron infection while at home.

If these health workers get infected with the Omicron strain, then it could lower the hospital facility services.

“These health workers will stay near the hospitals, so that we could protect them and not allow them to get infected,” Pandjaitan stated.

Next, as mandated by the president, only people with moderate, severe, and critical symptoms should opt for hospitals while the rest should conduct centralized isolation.

Lastly, the government will push for intense utilization of telemedicine services for people with mild symptoms.

The minister urged the public to not panic in facing the spike in Omicron cases. He ensured that the government had taken precautionary measures to deal with this Omicron wave.

“The people could go about their activities as usual. I repeat, as usual, in accordance with the health protocol regulation and PPKM (Public Activitiy Restriction) stipulation,” he noted.

“If we obey them all, then there is nothing to be worried about,” he remarked.

Source: Antara News