COVID-19 Subvariant XBB Has Entered The Republic Of Indonesia, More Contagious Than Omicron BA.5 And BA.2

Photo by Mufid Majnun on Unsplash

Spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, Mohammad Syahril, acknowledged that the Omicron variant of the XBB subvariant has been detected in Indonesia more quickly than the previous subvariant.

The XBB subvariant is more contagious than the BA.5 and BA.2 subvariants which have led to an increase in COVID-19 cases in Indonesia some time ago.

This XBB transmission has been observed from the development of its case in Singapore, which was also followed by an increasing trend of patient care in hospitals.

"The increase in cases of the XBB wave in Singapore is fast and has reached 0.79 times the BA.5 and 0.46 times the BA.2 waves," Syahril said in his statement, Saturday, October 22.

Since it was first discovered, as many as 24 countries have reported findings of the Omicron XBB variant, including Indonesia. The first case of XBB in Indonesia is a local transmission, detected in a 29-year-old woman who recently returned from Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara.

"There are symptoms such as cough, runny nose and fever. He then did an examination and tested positive on September 26. After undergoing isolation, the patient was declared cured on October 3rd," said Syahrl.

Although the new XBB variant is contagious, the fatality rate is no more severe than the Omicron variant.

In the findings of the XBB case in Indonesia, the Ministry of Health has made anticipatory efforts by testing and tracing 10 close contacts. As a result, all close contacts tested negative for the XBB variant of COVID-19.

In this condition, Syahril reminded the public that the state could not be said to be safe from the COVID-19 pandemic. Because various mutations of new variants still have the potential to continue. In the last 7 days, there has also been an increase in cases in 24 provinces.

Therefore, Syahril asked the public to be aware of this transmission and increase compliance with the implementation of health protocols. "Immediately do a booster for those who have not, to reduce the pain and death from COVID-19," he said.