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Govt confirms new COVID-19 subvariant ahead of year-end holidays
The government has urged people to follow the health protocols, including wearing masks, as the country prepares to celebrate the year-end holidays, following the detection of the latest COVID variant of interest JN.1, with the majority of cases reported in Jakarta.
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People wear masks as they walk on Dec. 8, 2023 along Jl. Thamrin in Jakarta. The Indonesian Medical Association (IDI) has urged the public to follow the government’s COVID-19 health protocols amid an increase in infections since November. (Antara/Hafidz Mubarak A)
T
he Health Ministry has confirmed the detection of the highly transmissible COVID-19 sublineage JN.1 in Indonesia, just as millions of people are set to embark on their year-end holiday travels.
According to disease control and prevention director general Maxi Rein Rondonuwu, the ministry had recorded at least 41 confirmed JN.1 cases as of Wednesday.
The relatively new Omicron sublineage, which the World Health Organization classified as a variant of interest (VOI) earlier this week, had been detected in samples taken from five cases in November.
While most cases were detected in Jakarta, five others were discovered in Batam, the Riau Islands.
“Like other Omicron subvariants, most patients who had contracted JN.1 experienced mild symptoms,” Maxi said on Wednesday, as quoted by kompas.id.
JN.1 is a descendant of the Omicron subvariant BA.2.86, informally called “Pirola”, and is thought to be behind the recent uptick in COVID-19 cases in several countries, including the United States and Singapore.
The variant was first detected in the US in September, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
