“I liken the new variant of the coronavirus to a person who changes his outfit. The PCR test still can detect them. We should not be too worried,” Zubairi said during a talk show hosted by the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) in Jakarta on Tuesday, kompas.com reported.

He went on to say that the new strain of the virus had spread outside the UK, including the Netherlands, Australia, Singapore, Italy, Denmark and Iceland.

“We’ve learned that this corona B117 virus is 71 percent faster in transmission as compared with the previous one. Experts have said that it may be fast, but is not as deadly,” said Zubairi.

He further said that the newly found COVID-19 variant would not hamper efforts to develop COVID-19 vaccines. “Experts are optimistic that after vaccination, we will build immunities in certain parts [of our body].”

Zubairi said Indonesia saw an alarming positive case rate at 20 percent. “We need to go all out in prevention measures and we have to run the vaccination drive.”

Separately, House of Representatives Deputy Speaker Azis Syamsuddin urged the public to stay at home during the New Year’s Eve celebrations, especially with the spread of the new COVID-19 variant.

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“Please, stay at home and abide by the health protocols,” said Azis, echoing Zubairi on the characteristic of the new strain that spreads so quickly.

As part of the preventive measures toward the new virus variant, Azis urged the government to trace Indonesians and foreigners who had just arrived in Indonesia. “Especially those who traveled from the UK and Europe.”

Indonesia is closing its borders to foreign travelers from all around the world for the first two weeks of 2021, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi announced on Monday, amid concerns over the discovery of the more infectious SARS-CoV-2 variant first detected in the UK.

Last week, scientists from the UK’s New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG) discovered the new strain of the coronavirus, which has been spreading rapidly in that country, Reuters reports.

“In response to these developments, a limited Cabinet meeting on Dec. 28 came to the decision to temporarily bar the entry of foreign nationals from all countries to Indonesia from Jan. 1 to 14, 2021,” Retno told the press at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Monday.

Exceptions for foreigners due to arrive prior to Thursday have also been put in place, based on the latest regulations set up by the national COVID-19 task force. (nkn)

 

Editor’s note: This article is part of a public campaign by the COVID-19 task force to raise people’s awareness about the pandemic.