TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan in a coordination meeting on the enforcement of an emergency state of community-level public activity restrictions (Emergency PPKM or PPKM Darurat) on Tuesday, June 29, said that the city had detected a new variant of Covid-19, namely the Kappa variant B.1617.1

The variant was first identified in India, similar to the Delta variant B.1617.2.

In response to this emergence, Deputy Governor Ahmad Riza Patria called on Jakartans to stay at home. According to him, the number of patients exposed to the new variant has increased, and even among children.

“What’s important is the community to stay at home because this new variant is highly infectious and dangerous even though [people infected with the virus] heals quickly. The fact is, many children have been exposed to the coronavirus,” said Riza at the City Hall on Thursday night, July 1.

According to him, the Provincial Government assisted by the Health Ministry continued to conduct research on the virus variants and virus spread. “So while [we are carrying out] research, please stay at home because it is the safest place,” Riza underlined.

Jakarta Health Agency Head Widyastuti said the public must stay vigilant of the new variants of Covid-19 as they spread faster. The agency found 128 cases of new variants in Jakarta including the variant of concern (VOC), namely 111 cases of Delta variant, 11 cases of Alpha variant, five cases of Beta variants, and one case of Kappa variant.

ANTARA