Ministry Of Health: Subvariants EG.2 And EG.5 Occupy 40 Percent Of COVID Case Proportions In Indonesia

Screenshot - Director of Health Surveillance and Quarantine of the Indonesian Ministry of Health Achmad Farchanny at the Press Conference of COVID-19 Efforts in the endemic period followed from Jakarta, Monday (21/8/2023). (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) reported that the latest Corona Virus subvariants EG.2 and EG.5 occupy almost half the proportion of COVID-19 cases in Indonesia today. "From the findings of Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS), the current proportion of EG.2 reaches 20 percent, EG.5 reaches 20 percent," said Health Surveillance and Quarantine Director of the Ministry of Health Achmad Farchanny at a press conference on COVID-19 Response Efforts during the endemic period followed from Jakarta, Antara, Monday, August 21. The report was received by the Ministry of Health on August 7, 2023, based on the results of the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID) report as an institution created by the German Government and the International Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) to study viral genetic data. The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday classified the latest coronavirus subvariant EG.5 as a variant of interest (VOI). This latest variant of the coronavirus has spread rapidly in the United States (US) region, covering more than 17 percent of new infections. The WHO stated that the current EG.5 corona variant does not pose additional risks to public health, when compared to other variants of COVID-19. Farchanny said the trend of COVID-19 cases nationally since July 1, 2023, has been relatively sloping with a positivity rate of 0.31 percent and a hospitalization trend as well as deaths that almost touched zero. "In 2023 there was an increase in cases in May and the following month it decreased significantly," he said. "The COVID-19 condition in Indonesia, which tends to be stable, is influenced by the vaccination program, which has now recorded more than 453 million doses that have been injected into beneficiaries, and more than 64 percent of the total Indonesian population has received complete doses of vaccination," Farchanny added. From the results of the antibody serosurvey that has been carried out three times in Indonesia from 2021 to January 2023, Farchanny said, it shows that almost all Indonesians have Sars-CoV-2 antibodies. "In January 2023, the last Serosurvey was recorded at 99 percent with a range of between 98.6 and 99.3 percent," he said. On that occasion, Farchanny also conveyed the actual global COVID-19 condition, which in general experienced a decline in the rate of cases. "For the highest cases currently in Europe, followed by Western Pascific areas, such as the United States and so on," he said. The highest death cases due to COVID-19 are still dominated in the United States, Europe, and Southeast Asia. "In general, all cases of treatment and death have decreased," he said.