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Highly transmissible Delta Plus overshadows Indonesia reopening plan
The government has promised to strengthen vigilance at the borders and intensify genome surveillance to detect any concerning new variant.
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Taking off: International flight passengers queue for check-in at Terminal 3 of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten, on Sept. 12. Airport authorities have been screening passengers to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
(Antara/Fauzan)
T
he recent discovery in neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore of a new subtype of the highly transmissible Delta variant of the coronavirus has rung alarm bells in Indonesia, which is on track to further reopen itself to the world.
Fears of a new wave of infection driven by AY.4.2, also known as Delta Plus, which is believed to be slightly more transmissible compared with the original Delta variant, came as Indonesia began to gradually ease COVID-19 curbs and reopen its borders for international arrivals.
The government has promised to strengthen vigilance at the borders and intensify genome surveillance to detect any concerning new variant as soon as possible.
Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said the government would procure around 20 whole genome sequencing machines in the near future and would distribute them to university laboratories across the archipelago.
"Currently, most of the machines for whole genome sequencing are located in Java," Budi said in a hearing with the House of Representatives Commission IX, which oversees demographics, health care and manpower, recently.
"We're planning to procure around 20 more machines and distribute them to university [labs] on various islands so that they don't have to send the samples to Java and we could detect any new variants sooner," he added.
Indonesia only has 12 laboratories that can carry out whole genome sequencing at the moment, with a total capacity of processing around 1,500 to 1,800 samples per month.
