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Govt calls for public vigilance over emerging COVID subvariants
As a precautionary measure, the Health Ministry has called for more vigilance over the emergence of new subvariants and for people to complete their COVID-19 vaccinations.
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Commuter Line passengers use mobile devices on June 12, 2023 at Bekasi Station in West Java. (Antara/Fakhri Hermansyah)
T
he Health Ministry has urged greater vigilance amid a recent uptick in cases of new COVID-19 subvariants, both in the country and around the globe, while reassuring the public on the availability of vaccines.
Health Ministry spokesperson Siti Nadia Tarmizi told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday that the number of novel coronavirus infections had risen “from previously only 10 to 20 cases weekly to 267 cases last week.”
Data from the ministry released on Wednesday show a daily increase of COVID-19 infections by “35 to 40 cases” and an increase in hospitalizations by “60 to 131 cases”.
The ministry’s data also show a rise in COVID-19 deaths in the past week by “0 to 3” cases, but Siti declined to provide the number of total COVID-19 deaths over the same period.
EG.5, informally dubbed “Eris”, and EG.2 had become the dominant Omicron subvariants in Indonesia, Siti added, but did not say how many confirmed cases had been linked to these subvariants.
EG.5 infections show symptoms similar to those of other subvariants, including fever, fatigue, runny nose and sore throat.
In August, the World Health Organization (WHO) classified the Omicron subvariant EG.5 and its sublineages HK.3 and HV.1 as variants of interest (VOIs).
