Bali Health Office Claims There Has Been No Spike In COVID-19 Cases After The BA.4 And BA.5 Sub Variant Cases Were Found

DENPASAR - The Bali Provincial Health Office (Dinkes) claims that since the discovery of the new subvariant omicron virus BA.4 and BA.5 identified on the island of Bali, there has been no spike in COVID-19 cases in Bali to date.

The new variant case was discovered after four people from the committee and participants of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (GPDRR) activity were held from 23 to 28 May 2022, in Nusa Dua, Badung Regency, Bali.

"From May 28 until now the 10 (June 2022) there is still no spike. There are still around 1 to 20 people who are positive (per day) there is no spike. The positive ones, we are still checking and currently they have not been found, I continue to check daily as long as we check, there are no new variants and they have not been found so far," said Head of the Bali Provincial Health Office, I Nyoman Gede Anom, Friday, June 10.

"It's been almost two weeks and there hasn't been a spike at all. But we're still monitoring the positive, we're checking whether he has the new variant, we're checking and so far it's still a normal virus. It means the Omicron Covid-19," he added.

According to Kadinkes, the symptoms that are variants of BA.4 and BA.5 are not too severe according to the explanation from the World Health Organization (WHO). The meaning is the same as now, which is like omicron.

"That's the first (case) in South Africa that continues to enter Europe, he said, causing a spike in cases. I don't know, because it's faster than the old variant. But, we've observed that for the past two weeks there has been no spike in Bali. we will send it to Jakarta to see if there are any new specimens, otherwise it means they are the only ones affected," he explained.

However, to anticipate the existence of this new variant, his party still urges the public to remain obedient to the government's recommendations.

"As suggested by Mr. Jokowi, if you may not wear a mask outside, it is possible for the elderly to be comorbid (who are) vulnerable and some have coughs and colds, so wear a mask. If you are indoors, we still recommend (wearing a mask) this is still a pandemic and PPKM Level 1 , not yet endemic," he explained.

According to him, until now in Bali there has been no spike in cases because the majority of Balinese people have carried out booster vaccinations and the immune level in Bali has been established at 98 percent.

"First, yes, boosters, then our immune level is already 98 percent. It means that hub immunity has been established throughout Bali. The cure rate is almost above 97 percent and the OTG has also recovered for a few days, this is like the common cold. However, it's still appropriate According to the government's advice, if you are used to wearing masks, just wear them, it's okay, keep wearing masks because we are not endemic, we are not free," he said.