Isolation or health protocol is still the key to fighting new variantsJakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Health is still conducting an epidemiological investigation into the Omicron XBB.1.16 or Arcturus subvariant to determine whether it is the reason behind the surge in COVID-19 cases in Indonesia in recent weeks.
"In Indonesia, most of the COVID-19 cases are caused by the BA.4 variant with the same pattern as Arcturus, which spreads quickly," the ministry's Head of the Communication and Public Service Bureau, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, stated when confirmed here on Friday.
According to Tarmizi, the investigation was triggered by the finding of two Arcturus cases in Jakarta residents in March 2023.
She explained that one of the patients was a man aged 56 years, with a recent travel history to India, while the other patient was a 30-year-old woman, with no recent travel history abroad.
Tarmizi noted that her ministry is intensifying genomic surveillance to identify the cause of an increase in COVID-19 cases in the last few weeks.
She stated that the daily increase in cases amid the controlled COVID-19 pandemic situation in Indonesia stands at 200-300 on average. However, in the last two weeks, the daily increase in cases had even touched 900.
"Even though there has been a significant increase in cases, the number of deaths and people treated in hospitals had been more or less still the same, still below 15 cases (of deaths per day), while hospital occupancy is below five percent," she remarked.
Although Arcturus and BA.4 have the same transmission pattern as in India, she said, the death rate is relatively low.
Tarmizi appealed to people to immediately get the second booster vaccine dose and get tested if they experience symptoms.
"Isolation or health protocol is still the key to fighting new variants," she stressed.
She further stated that the Arcturus subvariant is suspected of being able to reduce the protection by antibodies obtained naturally through infection or vaccination.
She noted that based on the two Arcturus patients in Jakarta, one was asymptomatic, while the other one exhibited symptoms of cough, runny nose, and lung infection that made it necessary for the patient to undergo treatment.
She stated that the average treatment period of patients was five to six days, and the two Arcturus patients in Jakarta had fully recovered.
"Thus, we see that protection from immunization is still sufficient to fight this variant," she remarked.
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Translator: Andi Firdaus, Raka Adji
Editor: Sri Haryati
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