Prof Tjandra Yoga Aditama: Local Variant Of COVID-19 In Surabaya Needs Clarification And Analysis

ILLUSTRA TION BY VOI

JAKARTA - Health Sciences expert from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Indonesia (KFUI) Prof. Tjandra Yoga Aditama, said that information on the emergence of a local variant of COVID-19 in Surabaya, East Java, needed further clarification and analysis.

"The main thing is to clarify and confirm whether there really is an important local variant in Surabaya, so that the information is clear and definite first. If there is no significant new local variant, the problem is solved," said Tjandra Yoga Aditama, quoted by Antara, Tuesday, January 18.

If based on the results of the clarification it is stated that it is true, said Tjandra, there are a number of further steps that the relevant authorities need to take.

First, an in-depth genomic analysis to see the phyllogenetic tree or genetic evolutionary relationships from previous generations. "Then it will be uploaded to GISAID, if it is deemed necessary," he said.

If the local variant is considered important, continued Tjandra, Indonesia only needs to inform the Global Outbreak Warning and Response Network or GOARN, which will decide whether it will be included in the variant that needs to be investigated or not.

"Or maybe there have also been reports of similar variants from several other countries whose behavior may not be worrying," he said.

Tjandra ensured that SARS CoV2 would continue to mutate, so that there would be new variants in various parts of the world. "However, the new variant may not have an impact on public health, or have a limited impact, etc. So, it is better to clarify the news first," he said.

Separately, the Spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, said she was following up on the report by confirming virus samples to the Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) Laboratory.

"The findings of this variant are being confirmed by the WGS reference laboratory," he said.

The information for the local variant came from the East Java Health Office, which said the virus mutations found were different from the current COVID-19 variants, such as Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Omicron, and Delta.

The sample was detected by WGS by researchers from the Institute of Tropical Disease (ITD) Universitas Airlangga (Unair) Surabaya. Of the 18 samples detected at ITD Unair, there were eight Omicron variants, nine Delta variants, and one local variant.