Usually, it (the mutations) occurs in June-July or in December.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The government's responsiveness in building herd immunity promptly by implementing massive COVID-19 vaccination has protected Indonesian people from the new XBB variant, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin stated.

Fortunately, Indonesia had increased its national vaccination coverage when several people were exposed to the Omicron variant earlier, so currently, the community was well-protected from the new variant, he remarked after attending the 2022 National Nutrition Movement here on Wednesday.

“We have had nothing (no significant surge in the number of cases for six months," he noted.

He assessed that vaccination administered to the public earlier had succeeded in maintaining herd immunity until this day and making Indonesia relatively safer.

So far, only one case of the XBB variant was discovered in Indonesia. It infected a patient from Surabaya City, East Java Province, at the end of September 2022.

The government continues to monitor the development of the new variant, considering that the COVID-19 virus may keep mutating.

"When a country is experiencing a high transmission rate, it (the virus) mutates. Usually, it (the mutations) occur in June-July or in December," the minister stated.

Sadikin assessed that Indonesia should be grateful since the COVID-19 situation in Indonesia is still under control, while several other countries have experienced another wave of the COVID-19 spike due to various new variants of the virus.

“The number of cases in Indonesia did not increase (significantly) in July-August, although (the number) rose in almost all countries in the world. Only a few countries did not face the surge, and one of them is Indonesia," he remarked.

Although the situation is still being monitored properly, he emphasized that the number of COVID-19 cases in Indonesia can potentially increase since the virus may still mutate, and currently, some neighbouring countries, such as Singapore, are facing a spike in cases again

Hence, he has appealed to the public to keep implementing strict health protocols to get booster vaccination as soon as possible and to adhere to the regulation imposed by the government.

According to data from the COVID-19 Task Force, as of Tuesday (October 25, 2022) at 12:00 p.m. Western Indonesian Standard Time (WIB), there were 3,008 additional daily cases, while the total number of active cases reached 19,915.

Meanwhile, the number of recovered patients increased by 1,757 and the death toll was up by 21 people.

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Translator: Hreeloita Shanti, Uyu Liman
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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