Indonesia Issues Warning Amid COVID-19 Surge in Asia Driven by Omicron Subvariant

Indonesia Issues Warning Amid COVID-19 Surge in Asia Driven by Omicron Subvariant
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Indonesia’s Health Ministry has urged healthcare facilities nationwide to intensify COVID-19 surveillance as a more contagious omicron subvariant, JN.1, fuels a surge in cases across parts of Asia, Arab News reported. Countries including Thailand, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore have reported rising infections since last month.

JN.1, first identified in late 2023, quickly spread globally through early 2024 and has become one of the dominant COVID-19 variants in many regions. While cases are increasing, Indonesian Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin emphasized that these new variants tend to be less deadly.

Following a briefing with President Prabowo Subianto on Tuesday, Sadikin confirmed the rise in cases but reassured that the severity remains relatively low. Last week, the Health Ministry issued a circular directing regional agencies, hospitals, and community health centers to monitor case trends closely and report any unusual developments.

The circular also instructed health quarantine facilities to enhance surveillance of travelers, transportation, and goods arriving from countries experiencing COVID-19 surges.

Indonesia has so far confirmed 72 COVID-19 cases in 2025, with no reported deaths. The weekly caseload recently rose to seven, while the positivity rate declined to 2.05 percent from 3.62 percent the previous week.

During the pandemic, Indonesia was one of Asia’s hardest-hit countries, recording around 162,000 deaths—second only to India’s 533,000 fatalities.