DENPASAR (Bali) - At the height of Covid-19 crisis in July, when the Delta variant of the coronavirus tore through Indonesia, the second-largest hospital in the capital Jakarta, charged with treating Covid-19 patients, had more than 250 patients and was turning away all but the most serious cases.

Now that hospital, RS Persahabatan, only has two such patients and has scaled back on the number of beds set aside to 20.

The hospital's chief pulmonologist, Dr Erlina Burhan, 58, does not expect a repeat of July's nightmare with the latest variant, Omicron, which appears to be more contagious but less lethal than Delta.

"In July we were not prepared for how fast Delta would spread or its severity," Dr Erlina told The Straits Times. "Things are different now."

South-east Asia was once the epicentre of the pandemic, but higher vaccination rates, previous exposure and a populace already well versed in living with Covid-19 suggest the region will avoid a recurrence of what occurred in the middle of the year.

More than 50 countries have reported cases of the Omicron variant with no deaths so far specifically linked to it and research from South Africa this week suggested that patients infected with it suffer only mild symptoms.

Experts say there is little need to resort to new travel restrictions.

On Monday (Dec 6) the government of President Joko Widodo, or Jokowi as he is better known in Indonesia, reversed plans to reinstate movement restrictions during the year-end holiday season that would have limited capacity for indoor dining and other public venues.

"It's a wise decision," Dr Pandu Riono, epidemiologist at University of Indonesia, told ST, referring to the cancellation of the curbs.

"There is no reason to be afraid. There's no indication of an increase in severe cases."

The rapid spread of Delta and the more than a million doses of Covid-19 vaccine administered throughout the country each day mean that a big chunk of Indonesia's population already has some degree of immunity against the virus, said Dr Pandu.

He is confident that a set of government serological studies of 22,000 people across Indonesia, which will wrap up this month, will likely show that half of the population has antibodies for the coronavirus.

"Half of Indonesia either has immunity from Covid-19 by God or by Jokowi," said Dr Pandu, referring to infection and vaccination.

Since the announcement by the World Health Organisation in late November that Omicron was "a variant of concern" policymakers around the region have stepped up testing and screening, but have been reluctant to reimpose harsh travel restrictions.

The Malaysian authorities said that from Thursday (Dec 9) those arriving on vaccinated travel lanes (VTLs) - bilateral arrangements that permit fully vaccinated international arrivals entry without quarantine - would need to submit to daily testing for six days.

Singapore, which has 27 such VTLs, has said it will freeze plans to expand them to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Singapore has tightened entry requirements, including pre-departure polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests and a follow-up on arrival. The new rules will also require antigen rapid tests from designated centres on the third and seventh day after arrival.

Thailand decided to reverse rules in place for only a few weeks that have exempted vaccinated travellers from quarantine while they wait for PCR test results.

Instead the government indicated that, by next week, travellers will be required to once again spend at least one night at a quarantine hotel while waiting for a negative result.

"Countries are in a wait-and-see mode," Mr Peter Mumford, a Singapore based analyst with risk analysis consultancy Eurasia Group told ST.

"Those countries that have already reopened borders are staying the course but ramping up testing for arrivals."

Ms Trinh Nguyen, a Hong Kong-based economist with French investment bank Natixis, said Omicron's arrival in fact may bode well for further easing of travel restrictions as vaccinations and an apparently milder but more transmissible variant helps impart antibodies to more people around the region.

"We are entering 2022 with more people vaccinated, more resilient health services and a milder version of the virus," Ms Nguyen told ST. "I'm optimistic."

Still, vaccination rates are not uniform in the region, making it tough for policymakers to treat Covid-19 as endemic like, for example, typhus or yellow fever.

Only a third or Indonesia's 180 million or so adults are fully vaccinated. In Thailand, that figure is 60 per cent.

Indonesia extended its quarantine requirement for incoming travellers to 10 days from three this month. The government has also urged the country's four million or so public servants not to travel travelling during the holidays.

"Several South-east Asian countries don't have the vaccination levels yet to treat it as endemic," Mr Mumford said. "The outlook remains uncertain."

Reactions in South-east Asia to Omicron variant

- Asean countries impose entry bans on travellers from as many as 10 southern African countries, though Cambodia lifted its own restrictions on Monday (Dec 6).

- Malaysia freezes plans to set up VTLs with countries with large numbers of omicron cases.

- Singapore tightens screening requirements for incoming travellers, freezes upcoming vaccinated travel lanes for UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

- Indonesia extends quarantine twice: First from three days to seven and then on Dec 2 from seven to 10 days.

- Thailand indicates that by next week travellers will be required to spend at least one night at a quarantine hotel while waiting for a negative result.