New Variant of SARS-CoV-2 from India Begins to Dominate

AFP/TAUSEEF MUSTAFA

A health worker inoculates a visually impaired man with a dose of the Covaxin Covid-19 coronavirus vaccine in a school-turned-vaccination centre in New Delhi on May 5, 2021.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Variant B.1.617 of the SARS-CoV-2 virus from India is increasingly prevalent in Indonesia. There have been eight new cases from samples taken in Jakarta, South Sumatra and Central Kalimantan since January, bringing the total to 10 cases of the more contagious variant of the virus that causes COVID-19.

The eight new cases were announced by Health Ministry director of prevention and control of directly communicable diseases Siti Nadia Tarmizi in Jakarta on Sunday (9/5/2021). "Yes, there are new additions," she said.

However, according to the Health Ministry, the additional cases were discovered from samples taken a few months ago. One positive sample was taken from a foreign traveler in Jakarta on Jan. 7.

Also read: Transmission of New Variants Found in Indonesia

Four cases of B.1.617 were found in Palembang from two samples from patients at Dr Mohammad Hoesin General Hospital on Feb. 8 and 12. Two other samples were from the Palembang Health Laboratory Center on Jan. 14 and 15.

Three other B.1.617 cases were found from samples taken at Palangkaraya Regional Hospital in Central Kalimantan. Two samples were taken on March 19, and the other was taken on March 20.

Also read: Coping with New Covid-19 Variants

KOMPAS/DEONISIA ARLINTA

Siti Nadia Tarmizi

Central Kalimantan Health Office head Suyuti Syamsul said the samples of the three cases of variant B.1.617 were sent by local officers to the Health Ministry’s Health Research and Development Agency (Balitbangkes) in March. The results of the examination came out on Saturday (8/5).

Epidemiological-serological

Six more samples from Kapuas regency, East Kotawaringin regency and West Kotawaringin regency were sent to the Balitbangkes because the patients were also suspected of being exposed to variant B.1.617. The results have not been received. "We will carry out epidemiological and serological tracking of cases with this new variant," said Suyuti.

Also read: Three New Variants of SARS-CoV-2 Enter Indonesia

Previously, Nadia said that one health worker in Jakarta, who had no history of overseas travel was found to have variant B.1.617. The health worker’s sample was taken on April 3. "This is a family cluster. Her children and husband were also positive for Covid-19 at the same time," she said.

In addition, one Indian citizen whose sample was taken on April 22 was positive for the new variant. He was part of a group of Indian citizens who arrived on April 10, 22 and 23. Meanwhile, two new cases from India were reported by the Banten Health Office from the development of previous cases. "The results of the sequence are not out yet," he said.

Riza Arief Putranto, a molecular genomics researcher from Aligning Bioinformatics, said the findings indicated that a new variant from India had entered Indonesia in early January. It is feared that this variant will become dominant because it is more infectious.

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According to Public Health England (PHE) on Friday (7/5), variant B.1.617.2 is a subvariant B.1.617 with a transmission speed equivalent to B.1.1.7. This is based on the drastic increase of variant B.1.617.2, namely 520 out of 202 cases in the past week.

STEVE PARSONS/POOL/AFP

Eearing a protective face coverings to combat the spread of the coronavirus, Matron May Parsons (R) is assessed by Victoria Parker (C) during training in the Covid-19 Vaccination Clinic at the University Hospital in Coventry, central England on December 4, 2020, prior to the NHS administering jabs to the most vulnerable early next week. - Britain insisted Friday its world-first approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine met all safety standards, striving to tamp down any public unease after US and European officials queried the rapid process.

Earlier, the UK Consortium of COVID-19 Genomics said variant B.1.1.7 was about 70 percent more contagious than the initial version of SARS-CoV-2 found in Wuhan, China. Therefore, the British Government has raised the status of B.1.617.2 to a variant of concern.

Also read: Indonesia’s Situation Can Get as Bad as India’s

According to Riza, the Indian variant circulating in Indonesia is also subvariant B.1.617.2 which is more contagious. Variant B.1617 initially emerged in October 2020 in India when cases were under control. In December 2020, subvariants B.1.617.1 and B.1617.2 were found. In February 2021, subvariant B.1.617.3 occurred. However, B.1.617.2 is the most widespread.

The alarm sounds

Dicky Budiman, Indonesian epidemiologist at Griffith University, said that the increasing discoveries of variant B.1.617 put Indonesia at risk of facing a spike in COVID-19 cases. Moreover, he said, this variant had likely been circulating since January.

"When a country becomes the epicenter of an outbreak, like what happened in India, the surrounding countries will be affected. A number of countries in South and Southeast Asia have started to become infected and have experienced an increase in cases, such as Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia," he said.

Also read: ‘Blessed’ Homecoming and Indian Setback

According to Dicky, the increase in cases in Indonesia is likely to be higher than what has been detected. University of Indonesia professor and faculty of medicine dean Ari Fahrial Syam was also worried that the detected presence of the new Indian variant in Indonesia was only the tip of the iceberg. "The number of cases of new variants, including those from India, is still low because there are only 7-8 tests per 10,000 cases of COVID-19," he said.

Kompas

World Health Organization (WHO) Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan attends a press conference organised by the Geneva Association of United Nations Correspondents (ACANU) amid the COVID-19 outbreak, caused by the novel coronavirus, on July 3, 2020 at the WHO headquarters in Geneva.

World Health Organization (WHO) chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan warned in an interview with AFP that variant B.1.617 had triggered a catastrophe in India. The variant, which has many mutations, may be immune to the current vaccines.

(This article was translated by Kurniawan Siswoko).