Make Sure Whether The BA.2.75 Subvariant, Yogyakarta Health Office Sends Virus Samples To The COVID-19 Laboratory

Returning from the Holy Land, the hajj group had a COVID-19 antigen swab test at Batam's Hang Nadim Airport, Riau Islands, Wednesday 27 July. (ANTARA-Jessica)

YOGYAKARTA - The Yogyakarta City Health Office (Dinkes) sent a number of samples of patients who were confirmed positive for COVID-19 with certain clinical conditions to the laboratory.

Head of the Disease Control and Data Management Division of the Yogyakarta City Health Office, Lana Unwanah, said the effort was to determine whether the type of virus entered the latest subvariance.

"The sample that we assessed as the latest probable subvariance was sent to the laboratory for examination, although it will take a long time to confirm the results," he said in Yogyakarta, quoted from Antara, Sunday, July 31.

Based on information from the Ministry of Health, Lana continued, the variants that have been found recently are the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants. Recently, a new subvariance of BA.2.75 emerged with a low fatality.

"From the samples that we have sent, it is not certain whether the patient was exposed to the latest subvariance or not because the test takes a long time, it must go through a whole genome sequencing (WGS) test," he said.

Although in recent weeks there has been a significant increase in COVID-19 cases in the city of Yogyakarta, the local Health Office has ensured the readiness of facilities to deal with potential cases.

Lana ensured that the treatment room at the integrated referral and isolation hospital in Yogyakarta was confirmed to be ready to operate for patients with mild symptoms.

Meanwhile, the isolation shelter at Rusunawa Bener Yogyakarta is currently treating two patients with a hospital bed occupancy rate of less than 10 percent.