Health Ministry Confirms New COVID-19 Variant Spread in Indonesia
- Pixabay/Tumisu
VIVA – The Ministry of Health confirms the COVID-19 BN.1 mutation has entered and even spread in Indonesia. Until today, the number of cases of the new variant has reached 20 cases in various parts of Indonesia.
Head of the Health Ministry’s Bureau of Communication and Public Services, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, stated that the increase in cases was influenced by several factors. One is the emergence of new variants, such as the XBB variant and the BN.1 Subvariant.
"The Minister of Health always says that what causes the increase in cases is new variants. We have passed the XBB and BQ.1 waves, but we noticed that there is a new subvariant BN.1," Siti Nadia Tarmizi stated.
Juru Bicara Kementerian Kesehatan dr Siti Nadia Tarmizi
- ANTARA
The first case report of omicron BN.1 subvariant was detected in the Riau Islands on September 16, 2022. Until now, Dr. Nadia reported that there have been 20 cases that are being monitored by the Health Ministry.
"We found one variant that is different from the others. This is what we are monitoring, whether this will cause an increase in cases or not in Indonesia," dr. Nadia said.
Moreover, Siti Nadia said the most cases were reported from DKI Jakarta, namely 9 cases. Then, the rest include Central Java with 5 cases, Riau Islands with 3 cases, North Sumatra, West Kalimantan, and South Kalimantan with one case each.
"Currently, we are monitoring the new variants, including BN.1, because in several countries it has also been reported, but it has not experienced an increasing trend of cases," she added.
The BN.1 variant is a lineage of BA.2.75 which is still a direct descendant of Omicron. The case itself was first discovered in India at the end of July 2022 and spread to 30 countries ranging from the United States, United Kingdom, Austria, to Australia.
Therefore, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has added the variant to the list of COVID-19 variants. Until now, the BN.1 variant has accounted for up to four percent of infection cases in the United States.
"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States is monitoring this variant because there has been an increase in cases with the BN.1 variant over the past 1 month," dr. Siti Nadia remarked.
