JAKARTA - Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin explained that there are two characteristics for areas that have experienced exposure to the Delta variant of COVID-19.
He knew this after having discussions with epidemiologists and the Indonesian diaspora abroad.
"It has two characteristics, namely that the CT is lower and then in its active period it is faster. So the recovery is faster but the severity increases more quickly," said Minister of Health Budi in a press conference broadcast online, Friday, July 9.
He then gave an example with CT number data in West Sumatra. At the end of December 2020, when the Delta variant had not spread, the lowest CT number reached 12.15, but when this variant entered last June, the lowest CT number reached 8.22.
This also happened in the Jakarta, Kudus and Bangkalan areas last June where the lowest CT number was below 10.
"Using a comparison like this, we can see areas with a low minimum CT average, which may have been entered by the Delta variant," he said.
When the tendency of an area to be entered by the Delta variant, the government must immediately take appropriate anticipatory efforts according to the characteristics of the virus variant. Given, the Delta variant is more contagious than the Alfa variant.
"(Delta variant, ed) is not more deadly, but the transmission is faster, so the procedures for treatment at the hospital and the aggressiveness in carrying out testing must be improved," said Budi.
Minister of Health Budi asked local governments to include CT numbers in the COVID-19 case reporting system. This is so that the government can monitor the development of the transmission of the Delta variant virus in various regions in Indonesia.
"We have made a decision, every PCR test, CT Value must be entered into the reporting system so that we anticipate the spread of Delta (can be done, ed) there," he explained.
"Starting Monday we start this," he concluded.
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