12 Omicron BA.5 Subvariant Cases Reported From West Java

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JAKARTA - Spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, Mohammad Syahril, reported that 12 cases of the Omicron BA.5 subvariance came from West Java Province.

"As of today, there are 20 Omicron subvariants consisting of two BA.4 cases and 18 BA.5 cases," said Mohammad Syahril, quoted by Antara, Tuesday, June 14.

He said as many as 12 BA.5 cases came from the results of case investigations in West Java Province. Meanwhile, other BA.5 cases were reported from DKI Jakarta and Bali, each with three cases.

Meanwhile, the Omicron BA.4 subvariant was reported from DKI Jakarta and Bali with two cases each.

Spokesman for the COVID-19 Handling Task Force, Prof. Wiku Adisasmito, when delivering a virtual press statement regarding the development of national pandemic control which was followed from the BNPB YouTube today, said it was important for the public to be aware of the threat of the two virus mutations that had entered Indonesia as of June 6, 2022.

"Epidemiologically, BA.4 variants have been identified in 61 countries through 7,524 sequences that have been reported through the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID)," he said.

The most common BA.4 sequences were identified in South Africa, the United States, the United Kingdom, Denmark and Israel. As for the BA.5 variant, it has been identified in 65 countries through 10,442 sequences that have been reported through GSAID.

"The most identified sequences were in the United States, Portugal, Germany, the UK and South Africa," he said.

Wiku said the transmissibility or transmission ability of this variant has the possibility of spreading faster with no indication of causing more severe pain than other Omicron variants.