Not A New Type Like COVID-19, Minister Of Health: The HMPV Virus Does Not Cause Death

Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin. (Between-Puspa Perwitasari)

JAKARTA - Minister of Health (Menkes) Budi Gunadi emphasized that the Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV) virus did not cause death.

Bugi Gunadi said the public should not worry about the HMPV virus because the virus is not a new type like COVID-19.

He explained that the new HMPV virus can be categorized as dangerous for the human body that does not have immunity so that it is unable to fight and can cause death.

His party has also checked history data related to the HMPV case. Based on several sources he obtained, no death cases were found.

"HMPV barely causes death. I have checked the latest data, and all of them show that 100 percent of patients came home safely," he said during an interview in Palembang, Wednesday, January 8, which was confiscated by Antara.

Budi said the increase in cases in China was common from December to January. The same thing can be seen in countries with four seasons.

However, the main cause of the increase in cases in China is not the HMPV virus, but the H1N1 Influenza.

"The increase in cases is not caused by HMPV. So, the information is wrong," he said.