People with COVID-19 Kraken in Pamulang, South Tangerang, have just returned from Umrah

ILLUSTRATION OF DOC VOI

JAKARTA - A person with Subvariant Omicron XBB.1.5 or Kraken in Pamulang, South Tangerang, is known to be an overseas traveller (PPLN) who has just returned to Indonesia after performing Umrah in Saudi Arabia.

"Results of an epidemiological investigation, the person concerned is a PPLN who has returned from Umrah", said Director General of Disease Prevention and Control of the Ministry of Health, Maxi Rein Rondonuwu, as reported by ANTARA, Wednesday, February 1.

He said the patient was known to be a 47-year-old woman who had received the COVID-19 vaccine three times. The last injection was on February 12, 2022.

The patient was confirmed to have Kraken on January 31, 2023, based on the results of the PCR and Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) tests at the GSI Laboratory.

The patient reportedly experienced mild symptoms, so he was self-isolating at his residence. "The symptoms are mild, cough and slight fever", he said.

Maxi said ten people were known to have had close contact with the patient.

"Close contacts have been swabbed, as many as one people is positive, the others are negative", he said.

Thus, the number of Kraken confirmations in Indonesia so far has been three cases.

Previously, a similar case was experienced by a traveller from Poland during his activities in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, on 11 January 2023.