12 Cases of Omicron BA.5 Subvariant Found in West Java: Health Ministry

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Twelve cases of the Omicron BA.5 subvariant have been detected in West Java so far, spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, Mohammad Syahril, has informed.

"As of today, there are 20 cases of Omicron subvariants (in Indonesia) consisting of two cases of BA.4 and 18 cases of BA.5," he confirmed on Tuesday.

Of the 18 BA.5 cases, 12 cases have been identified in West Java, three cases in Jakarta, and three in Bali, he said.

Meanwhile, the cases of the Omicron BA.4 subvariant were reported in Jakarta and Bali.

At a press conference on the development of COVID-19 handling in Indonesia on Tuesday, spokesperson for the COVID-19 Handling Task Force, Wiku Adisasmito, emphasized that the community must remain alert to the threats presented by the two Omicron subvariants that have entered Indonesia as of June 6, 2022.

"Epidemiologically, the BA.4 variant (of Omicron) has been identified in 61 countries from 7,524 sequences that have been reported through the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID)," he disclosed.

Countries with the most identified sequences of BA.4 are South Africa, the United States, the United Kingdom, Denmark, and Israel.

Meanwhile, the BA.5 subvariant has been detected in 65 countries through 10,442 sequences reported via GSAID.

Countries with the most identified sequences of BA.5 are the United States, Portugal, Germany, the United Kingdom, and South Africa, he said.

The subvariants may transmit among people faster, but there has been no indication so far that they cause higher severity compared to the other subvariants of Omicron, Adisasmito noted.

The first case of COVID-19 in Indonesia was confirmed in March 2020. According to data from the COVID-19 Handling Task Force, as of June 14, the nation has recorded 6,062,009 COVID-19 cases, 5,900,049 recoveries, and 156,662 deaths.

ANTARA

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