Three New Variants of SARS-CoV-2 Enter Indonesia

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The new SARS-CoV-2 variants from India, South Africa and the UK have entered Indonesia. Awareness against transmission must be increased because the new variants are more easily transmitted.

"The transmission of this mutation is higher than the others, so we must keep an eye on it. We have to do so while there are still few cases because it will definitely spread soon," said Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin in a press conference with Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto and Chairman of the Task Force for Covid-19 Mitigation Doni Monardo at the Presidential Office, Jakarta, Monday (3/5/2021). Previously, President Joko Widodo chaired a limited meeting on the mitigation of the Covid-19 pandemic at Merdeka Palace, Jakarta.

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With regard to the case of the new coronavirus mutation from India, the President received reports of two cases in Jakarta. One case of a new variant from South Africa was found in Bali. In addition, 13 cases of the new variant from the UK were spread across a number of regions. The virus mutation from the three countries has been a focus of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Efforts to prevent this virus mutation from spreading need to be hastened. For those exposed to the new variant, isolation must be carried out followed by disciplined tracing to examination of the specimen for close contact with the patients.

Whatever the virus and its mutation, if we are disciplined in implementing the health protocols, we will not be infected.

Budi reminded residents to continue to implement strict health protocols by always wearing masks, washing hands, and maintaining distance. Vaccination is one way to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus mutation. "Whatever the virus and its mutation, if we are disciplined in implementing the health protocols, we will not be infected," he said.

Kompas/Raditya Helabumi

A line for participants in the Covid-19 vaccination for trading businesses at the Thamrin City shopping center, Central Jakarta, Monday (3/5/2021). Data from the Ministry of Health as of Monday (3/4/2021) as many as 12,545,372 people have received the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. While the second dose has been injected for 7,827,196 people.

Vaccination acceleration

As of the end of April 2021, vaccinations reached 20 million injections, relatively faster than the first stage of vaccination in January-March 26, 2021, when only 10 million injections took place. "Now, a month with all the limitations it can penetrate 10 million injections or 12.5 million people who have been vaccinated with the first dose, we hope it will be even faster," said Budi.

The government is also trying to bring in vaccines in finished form and raw materials. In May 2021, the government will bring in 3.8 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines and 1.8 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines will come. Thus, a total of 5.6 million doses of vaccines were obtained from the multilateral path.

In addition, Bio Farma will produce around 18 million doses of Sinovac vaccines in May 2021. With the additional vaccines, Budi believed the vaccine raw materials are sufficient. "Currently, the variants that attract the attention are the mutations from India, South Africa and England, which are still few. This is the right time for us to vaccinate immediately to protect ourselves and our families," Budi further said.

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With regard to the gotong royong (mutual cooperation) vaccine, Airlangga said the priority of vaccines would be determined based on zoning and based on companies registered with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, as well as the type of industry with priority going to the labor-intensive industry. Workers with a limited stay permit card (kitas) or permanent residence permit card (kitap) can use the gotong royong mechanism. The Health Ministry has prepared regulations related to the vaccine, including the price.

To speed up vaccination, the vaccination process is simplified from initially through four tables to only two tables. This method has been applied at the time of vaccination of traders in Thamrin City and Grand Indonesia, which was attended by the President. "The waiting time can be 15 minutes. That speeds up vaccination," said Budi.

In Papua Province, five regencies have not given vaccinations to the elderly. According to the head of the Disease Prevention and Control Division of the Papua Health Office, Aaron Rumainum, the five regions include Nduga, Yahukimo, and Supiori.

KOMPAS/RHAMA PURNA JATI

Crowd at Lemabang Market, Palembang City, South Sumatra, Monday (3/5/2021). The implementation of the Enforcement of Community Activity Restrictions in South Sumatra was less strict, which made the positive number of Covid-19 increase rapidly.

Activity restrictions

The chairman of the Association of Indonesian Public Health Experts, Ede Surya Darmawan, said that the implementation of the regulations for limiting micro-scale community activities (PPKM) issued by the central government has not been going well in the regions. In addition, not all regions have related derivative regulations so that the restrictions have not met expectations.

The lack of synchronization of the rules is an obstacle to mitigating the pandemic. Unclear command due to different rules confuse the residents. The implementation of restrictions on community activities has not been optimal so that the transmission of Covid-19 continues to occur.

In a number of regions, Covid-19 cases are increasing. The COVID-19 Mitigation and National Economic Recovery Committee (KPCPEN) noted that cases rose in five provinces, namely the Riau Islands, Riau, Bengkulu, Lampung, and Bangka Belitung. The five provinces with the highest cases of transmission included West Java, Central Java, Papua, Jakarta and Riau.

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According to Airlangga, who is also the chairman of KPCPEN, the increase in cases caused the government to expand the implementation of PPKM. Five new provinces were designated for PPKM, including the Riau Islands, Central Sulawesi and West Papua. A total of 30 provinces have implemented the micro-scale PPKM.

In a number of regions, Covid-19 transmission clusters have emerged. In Bantul, Yogyakarta, there are transmission clusters from mosque activities. Meanwhile, 14 students of the Multi Media High School "MMTC" Yogyakarta were tested positive for Covid-19 after participating in film production practices.

Several regions also experienced a spike in Covid-19 cases, namely Cirebon, West Java, Batam City and the Riau Islands. ( WKM/TAN/HRS/OKA/NDU/ IKI/ RTG/ FLO/ MEL/ VDL)

This article was translated by Hyginus Hardoyo.