Indonesia sees first locally transmitted Omicron case

Indonesia has reported its first Omicron community transmission after a resident of Medan, North Sumatra, tested positive for the Covid-19 variant during a trip to Jakarta with his wife.

The 37-year-old man, who has so far been asymptomatic, is currently being treated at the Sulianti Saroso Infectious Diseases Hospital in North Jakarta, Health Ministry Covid-19 spokesman Siti Nadia Tarmizi said in an online media briefing yesterday. The man is undergoing further evaluation and observation.

The man had tested positive in an antigen rapid test (ART) on Dec 19 and a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test on Dec 20. He was then confirmed to be infected with the Omicron variant through a genome sequencing test on Monday.

He had visited a popular shopping mall in Jakarta's Central Business District and stayed in an apartment in North Jakarta.

"He did a lot of activities prior to him testing PCR-positive. We are conducting contact tracing now, 14 days going backwards from Dec 20. We will be testing the people (who were) at the restaurants he visited, and the apartment he stayed in," said Dr Nadia.

Indonesia has so far reported 47 confirmed cases of Omicron, with the latest being the first community transmission.

The man has no recent record of travelling overseas and no known contact with anyone who had returned from abroad.

He had earlier resisted being evacuated from the apartment he stayed in, according to Dr Nadia.

The Medan resident frequently travelled to Jakarta with his wife, who has tested negative for the virus, Dr Nadia added, pointing out that the couple arrived in Jakarta on Dec 6.

"This first community transmission case has prompted us to tighten protocols for domestic travellers, as mobility would potentially lead to a case surge, especially ahead of the year-end break," said Dr Nadia.

"We have to make sure travellers using all modes of transportation have been fully vaccinated and have (at least) tested ART-negative prior to departure," she added.

Dr Nadia stressed that an Omicron case must be referred to a centralised quarantine facility, even if the patient is asymptomatic.

Indonesia's first Omicron case - detected on Dec 15 - was a cleaner working at the centralised quarantine centre Wisma Atlit, who contracted the virus from a patient who had been overseas.

Most of Indonesia's imported Omicron cases were detected in travellers returning from Turkey, followed by those from Britain and the United Arab Emirates, according to Health Ministry data.