Epidemiologist Asks People Not to Fret about New Coronavirus Variant

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Epidemiologist from the University of Indonesia, Syahrizal Syarif, opined that people should not need to worry about the emergence of a new coronavirus variant that caused COVID-19.

“Until today, WHO has not received any evidence that the mutated virus causes a more severe disease,” said Syahrizal in a statement, Friday, February 5.

He explained that mutation is the ability of a virus to survive. When a virus infects a host such as human cells, it can replicate and thus a mutation occurs.

He explained the mutation did not generally occur in important parts of the virus, but rather its horn or spike. What raised public concerns, he added, was because the virus was reportedly easier to enter target cells, so that transmission would be faster than that of the old variant.

Syahrizal underlined that experts were studying the impact of the new virus on the protection level of the vaccine albeit there was no evidence yet regarding its severe impact.

According to him, vaccination would not present new coronavirus variants as it could not encourage mutations.

As the pandemic situation remained to fluctuate and the vaccine was limited, the epidemiologist called on the public to keep applying the health protocols of wearing face masks, washing hands, maintaining a physical distance, as well as avoiding crowds and strengthening 3T, viz. testing, tracing, and treatment.

“The community activity restrictions (PPKM) must be imposed more strictly. All events that potentially attract crowds such as wedding receptions and other social activities must be prohibited,” said Syahrizal.

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