"We believe there will be an increase of maybe a maximum of 25 thousand per day," Sadikin noted in an online statement on the sidelines of the state welcoming event for the President of the Federal Republic of Germany at the Bogor Palace, West Java, Thursday.
He explained that in South Africa, as the first country to identify the new variants of COVID-19, the peak cases of BA.4 and BA.5 were only a third of the peak cases of the Omicron or Delta variants.
Sadikin calculated that Delta and Omicron cases in Indonesia had peaked to reach 60 thousand per day, thereby translating to the fact that cases of the BA.4 and BA.5 variants in the country would only peak to reach 20 thousand to 25 thousand per day.
He noted that the peak of cases usually occurred one month after the first case was identified. In this case, it is estimated that the peak of BA.4 and BA.5 cases in Indonesia is likely to occur in the third and fourth weeks of July 2022.
"After that, the number of cases will decline," he noted.
In addition, he stated that the mortality rate of the new variants was much lower, only one-twelfth or one-tenth of that of Delta and Omicron.
The BA.4 and BA.5 cases were first identified in Bali from samples collected for PCR tests. Of the four cases reported -- one Indonesian and three foreigners -- one patient was positive for BA.4 and three for BA.5.
Three of the patients experienced no symptoms, while one patient experienced mild symptoms.
Until June 15, some 20 cases of the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants were found in Indonesia.. Related news: Existing vaccines still effective against new variants: task force
Related news: Indonesia's Omicron subvariant tally touches 20: ministry
Translator: Rangga Pandu A J, Resinta S
Editor: Suharto
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