“As of Thursday (October 27), there were four cases: two from overseas travel and two from local (transmission). However, yesterday, there were four additional cases, so, as of Sunday (October 30), we have eight cases of XBB in Indonesia,” Spokesperson of the Ministry of Health, Mohammad Syahril, stated in an online health broadcast on Monday.
According to the ministry’s data, as of Sunday, the eight cases include five cases from Jakarta and one each from Lampung, Kalimantan, and Bali.
Of the eight cases, two were found in people with a history of traveling abroad, while the other six contracted the virus from local transmission.
Syahril noted that although eight cases of XBB had been recorded, the community should not harbor concerns about the sub-variant since from 24 countries that had reported XBB transmission, no country had reported death or high hospital bed occupancy rate (BOR) caused by XBB.
He noted that viruses naturally continue to mutate to live.
Hence, he appealed to all parties to not be neglectful and not allow viruses to cause fatalities in Indonesia.
He expressed optimism that all parties would understand that one of the requirements to enter the endemic phase is maintaining health protocols and getting vaccinated as a form of protection.
The Ministry of Health will also continue to monitor the development of all mutations and the pandemic in the country.
The first case of COVID-19 in Indonesia was confirmed in March 2020. According to data from the COVID-19 Handling Task Force, as of October 31, 2022, the nation has recorded 6,493,079 COVID-19 cases, 6,309,790 recoveries, and 158,631 deaths.
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Translator: Hreeloita Dharma, Raka Adji
Editor: Sri Haryati
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