Usually, if there is a new variant, it peaks (as the cause of COVID-19 infection) about three months.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin noted that the number of Omicron XBB and BQ.1 COVID-19 subvariant cases in Indonesia had started to fall after the peak of the surge of cases a fortnight back.

"According to our observations, it (the increase in the number of the cases) had reached its peak. Thus, later on, there will be a downward trend," he stated after attending the 2022 Healthy Community Movement (Germas) Award here on Tuesday.

Based on reports of the Health Ministry’s Center for Data and Information (Pusdatin), as of December 5, 2022, several indicators on the transmission of COVID-19 cases had experienced a decrease in the last two weeks.

The indicators included the number of additional confirmed cases, active cases, and mortality rate that had declined, from 6,680 to 4,138 cases; from 59,711 to 54,900 cases; as well as from 2.41 to 2.39 percent, respectively.

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Furthermore, the number of patients treated at the hospital fell, from 7,177 to 6,115 people, while the hospital bed occupancy rate was down, from 12.12 to 10.52 percent.

In addition, the positivity rate dropped, from 20.72 to 10.8 percent.

The COVID-19 patient close contact ratio is the only indicator that has continued to increase, from 9.77 to 10.39 during the last two weeks.

The Health Ministry stated that the XBB and BQ.1 subvariants had become the main causes of the additional COVID-19 cases in Indonesia from October 10 until the end of November 2022, reaching 90 percent of the cases.

The rest of the patients were exposed to the BA.5 subvariant that earlier dominated the COVID-19 infections in Indonesia.

On a separate occasion, Deputy Minister of Health Dante Saksono Harbuwono said here on Tuesday that a new subvariant usually became the main trigger in the COVID-19 case surge in a certain country for three months.

"Usually, if there is a new variant, it peaks (as the cause of COVID-19 infection) about three months. Currently, Indonesia has entered its third month (of XBB and BQ.1 infection since September 2022). Hopefully, they (the subvariants) can be considered to have reached their peak," he added.

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Translator: Andi Firdaus, Uyu Liman
Editor: Suharto
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