Indonesia Reports Emergence Of Local Variant Of COVID-19 B1466.2, WHO Is Monitoring

ILLUSTRATION/UNSPLASH

JAKARTA - Spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, said that Indonesia had reported the emergence of a local variant of COVID-19 named B1466.2 to the World Health Organization.

Nadia explained that this variant is still included in the Alerts for Further Monitoring group and is being monitored by WHO. Therefore, this variant has not received official names such as Alpha, Beta, and Delta.

"This B1466.2 variant is included in Alerts for Further Monitoring, so it is only being monitored and has not been determined by WHO as a new variant", Nadia told VOI, Wednesday, July 28.

Nadia explained, the first sample of whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of variant B1466.2 was reported by Indonesia in November 2020. Then, WHO classified this variant in the Alerts for Further Monitoring group on April 28, 2021.

"Until now, 923 cases have been found since November 2020", she said.

Quoted on the WHO's official website, there are currently 13 types of variants included in Alerts for Furthers Monitoring, including this local variant from Indonesia. WHO explained that this variant is under surveillance and has the potential to pose a danger in the future.

Variants included in Alerts for Further Monitoring are not included in the Variant under Investigation (VoI) or Variant of Concern (VoC) groups. However, this variant has the potential to be dangerous in the future because it has genetic changes. However, there is no complete research evidence so that further monitoring is still being carried out.