Indonesia reports 1st two deaths from Omicron variant

JAKARTA, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) — Indonesia’s Ministry of Health confirmed the first two deaths from the Omicron coronavirus variant on Saturday amid a spike in cases triggered by the more infectious virus.

The ministry’s spokesperson Siti Nadia Tarmizi said one case was locally infected in Banten province and the other was an international traveller who passed away in the capital Jakarta.

“Both patients have comorbidities,” Tarmizi said.

Indonesia has recorded a total of 1,161 cases of the Omicron variant since Dec. 15 last year, when the Ministry of Health detected the first case of the more infectious variant.

The number of daily COVID-19 cases in the Southeast Asian nation jumped to 3,205 on Saturday from 772 on Monday.

Authorities have increased bed capacity in hospitals to deal with COVID-19 and intensified access to telemedicine for coronavirus patients with mild and moderate symptoms.

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