Still Limited, Task Force Waits For WHO To Announce Deltacron Characteristics

COVID-19 Task Force Spokesperson Wiku Adisasmito (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - The COVID-19 Task Force (Satgas) said it was waiting for the World Health Organization (WHO) to announce the further development of the characteristics of Deltacron.

"The naming of this variant has not been determined by WHO until now, data regarding the characteristics of the variant is still very limited," said Government Spokesperson for Handling COVID-19 Wiku Adisasmito at the Press Conference on the Development of Handling COVID-19 in Indonesia as of March 15, 2022 which was followed online. in Jakarta, reported by Antara, Tuesday, March 15.

He said in a media briefing held on March 10, 2022, the results of a meeting held by WHO with virus experts around the world stated that the impact of the Deltacron variant on epidemiological indicators and the severity of symptoms could not be ascertained.

Further research is needed on the new variant which is a combination of the Delta and Omicron variants.

Although still being monitored, he asked the entire community not to worry about Deltacron and remain disciplined in implementing health protocols and also immediately completing vaccination doses while waiting for WHO to announce the results of further research.

As long as the virus is still circulating in a high level of transmission, the process of virus mutation will be even greater. Changes in the virus can occur through various mechanisms, one of which is recombination.

“Virus recombination is not new and has happened to many other viruses. For this reason, in order to avoid the entry of new variants and the formation of new variants in the country, we must not allow the virus to spread at all during this adaptation period," said Wiku. Spokesperson for COVID-19 Vaccination of the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) Siti Nadia Tarmizi said the government is still monitoring the development of the Deltacron variant which has been detected in several countries in Europe and is a combination of Delta and Omicron mutations.

"This development is still being monitored. Because there is no evidence related to an increase in transmission, severity and others," he said.

Previously, scientists had confirmed the existence of a new COVID-19 variant combining mutations from the Omicron and Delta variants with cases reported in several European countries.

The variant, dubbed "Deltacron," was confirmed by genome sequencing carried out by scientists at IHU Mediterranee Infection in Maseille, France. The variant has been detected in several areas of France.

Cases of the Deltacron variant were also found in Denmark and the Netherlands, according to the international database Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID). Separately two cases were identified in the United States and a reported 30 cases were identified in the UK.

These variants are hybrids that arise through a process called recombination, in which two viral variants infect individuals simultaneously resulting in exchanging genetic material and creating new variants.