"The C.1.2 variant has not yet entered Indonesia, and for now, there is no need to worry," Director of the Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology, Prof. Amin Soebandrio, said as confirmed by ANTARA here, Thursday.
Soebandrio remarked that this was known based on a sequencing examination conducted by Eijkman and several other laboratories under the Ministry of Health.
Responding to a question on whether the C.1.2 variant is more virulent than its predecessor, Soebandrio called for conducting further research.
Based on a weekly report of the Center for Health Research and Development (Puslitbangkes) of the Indonesian Ministry of Health from August 28 to September 3, 2021, there were publications from researchers in South Africa related to the emergence of the C.1.2 variant.
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According to the report, the C.1.2 variant was a derivative of the C.1 variant from May 2021 in South Africa. Based on the researcher's observations, this variant has a mutational arrangement which is a combination of several mutations found in the alpha, beta, gamma, delta, and lambda variants, as well as new mutations (C136F, Y449H, and N679K).
Spokesperson for COVID-19 Vaccination of the Indonesian Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, stated that in addition to the C.1.2 variant, the Ministry of Health, was striving to track down other variants, such as lambda and mu, as well as possible local variants in Indonesia.
The government is taking precautionary measures against the entry of a new variant of the coronavirus through monitoring the flow of people from abroad at the entry points to the Indonesian territory.
"We continue to consult with the WHO to continue to update information on the new variants that have the potential to enter and spread in Indonesia," she stated.
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Translator: Andi Firdaus, Raka Adji
Editor: Suharto
Copyright © ANTARA 2021
