Indonesia Detects Coronavirus Mutation
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29 August 2020 21:05 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) detected coronavirus mutation that makes it ten times more infectious. These mutations are known to have dominated cases of virus infection in the world.
LIPI researcher, Wien Kusharyoto, said that the virus mutation was found in samples from Jakarta and Tangerang, through the Oxford University’s whole genome sequencing technique. He said the results of the genome sequencing were submitted to international basis data that collects samples from all around the world.
“There are eight samples of Indonesia’s whole genome sequencing that showed the virus mutation,” he said Friday, August 28.
Besides Jakarta and Tangerang, the samples were collected from Yogyakarta (2), Bandung (2), and Surabaya (2). Samples from Surabaya, exactly from Airlangga University, had even been submitted in April.
Earlier, Malaysian and Philippine health authorities have detected variant G of Sars-CoV-2 that causes the coronavirus disease or COVID-19.
Meanwhile, Wien added that the PCR test could only detect the virus infection; either positive or negative, but couldn’t see the mutation.
Read: LIPI Scientists to Conduct COVID-19 Whole Genome Sequencing
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