"This is because there is still potential for the coronavirus to continue to mutate and create new variants," he said in a statement from MPR received here on Wednesday (July 5)
Soesatyo said that the ministry also needs to continue to coordinate with the World Health Organization (WHO) to be updated about the development of new coronavirus variants globally, especially the EU.1.1 variant.
The step is deemed necessary, so that the right efforts and measures can be made to anticipate the harmful impacts of the coronavirus variant, he stated.
Soesatyo also urged the government to reconsider imposing stricter health screening against international travelers, especially those who traveled from Europe, to prevent the entry of the new variant EU.1.1 into Indonesia.
In addition, the MPR speaker called on the government to continue to rev up the COVID-19 vaccination program in the country to support people in building good immunity against the negative impacts of coronavirus and its variants.
Health Ministry's Head of the Communication and Public Service Bureau, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, said separately that the WHO has not classified the EU.1.1 Omicron subvariant as a coronavirus variant that countries must watch out for.
"The EU.1.1 case has not been found in Indonesia, and the WHO has not given a warning because it is still listed as a variant under monitoring (VUM)," she said when asked by the press on Wednesday.
Variants in the VUM category are suspected of having viral characteristics that could trigger the next COVID-19 wave. A VUM has the potential to be upgraded into a variant of interest or variant of concern (VoC) that should be watched out for.
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Translator: Fath Putra, Raka Adji
Editor: Tia Mutiasari
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