Health Ministry Finds Two Cases of Arcturus Covid-19 in Indonesia

VIVA – The Health Ministry finds two cases of Omicron subvariant XBB 1.16 or Arcturus in Indonesia based on genome sequencing search results at the end of March 2023, according to the Spokesman of the Health Ministry, Mohammad Syahril who was confirmed in Jakarta, on Thursday. 

However, he did not provide further details regarding the domicile and history of both patients. 

When contacted separately, the head of the ministry's communication and public services bureau, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, said that the two Arcturus patients, whose infections were detected based on genome sequencing conducted in the fourth week of March 2023, experienced mild symptoms.

"All the patients experienced mild symptoms," she informed. 

Meanwhile, an internal medicine specialist with hematology-oncology subspecialties, Prof. Zubairi Djoerban, said Arcturus was first identified in India in January 2023. The variant has become the trigger for a spike in cases in that country.

"Currently, the cases have been found in Indonesia. Arcturus can survive antibodies (developed from) vaccinations and natural infections," he stated.

Moreover, he said currently, Arcturus cases have been identified in around 20 countries, including Indonesia.

Nevertheless, he said, the symptoms experienced by the patients are milder, thus, people must not panic over the presence of the new COVID-19 variant.