There Are Still New Variants Of COVID-19, People Are Asked To Strengthen Immunity With Vaccination

Head of the Communication and Public Service Bureau of the Indonesian Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, when delivering comments during the 2023 National Health Work Meeting (Rakerkesnas) at the JCC Convention Center, Jakarta, Friday (23/2/2023). (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Head of the Communication and Public Service Bureau of the Indonesian Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, encouraged the public to strengthen vaccinations, following the discovery of new variants of COVID-19 cases in Indonesia.

"The addition of new cases of the Kraken variant of COVID-19 in Indonesia is currently a total of six patients, since it was first discovered in December 2022," said Siti Nadia Tarmizi, quoted by ANTARA, Monday, February 27.

Symptoms experienced by Kraken patients tend to be mild, even some patients do not have symptoms, so it is enough to self-isolate at home, said Nadia.

The Ministry of Health also noted that there were 53 confirmed cases of the Orthrus subvariant Omicron variant, with the first case found in samples from Lampung in October 2022.

"Orthrus is currently included in the category of under-monitoring (VUM) variants of the World Health Organization (WHO) as one of the lineages of the BA 2.75 variant," he said.

"This means that this variant is suspected of having the characteristics of a virus that tends to spread more quickly," Nadia added.

According to Nadia, the new variants of COVID-19 Kraken and Orthus are Omicron subvariants that have entered Indonesia since 2022. Both are expected to have a faster transmission power than the previous variant.

"Both variants of the virus have characteristics that are more contagious than the previous subvariants. In addition, there is still not enough evidence that shows that the level of morbidity and mortality due to orthrus is worse than the previous subvariant," he said.

Although the cases of COVID-19 variants of Kraken and Orthrus were reported in Indonesia, said Nadia, until now the development of COVID-19 in the country is still fully under control.

"The current COVID-19 vaccination is still relevant to prevent severe pain, or even to the hospital. Let's move the vaccination according to the invitation attached to the PeduliLindung application," he said.