New Covid-19 Variant R.1 Not Detected in Indonesia, Says Health Ministry

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – The Covid-19 variant R.1, which was first detected in a Kentucky nursing home in the US in March, has yet been identified in Indonesia.

“It [variant R.1] has not been identified in Indonesia,” the Health Ministry’s director for prevention and control of direct communicable diseases Siti Nadia Tarmizi told Kompas.com on Monday, September 27.

Nadia said that variant R.1 is designated variants under monitoring, or formerly called alerts for further monitoring by the World Health Organization (WHO).

She said the monitoring of the new variant was carried out to identify the pattern and its contribution to the Covid-19.

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“This variant still includes in the variant category 3, namely variants under monitoring, so its contribution to the Covid-19 pattern has not been confirmed,” she said.

However, she added, the government continues to monitor Indonesia’s entry ports to minimize the entry of new variants. The new variant R.1 has been brought to American researchers’ attention.

Fox News previously reported that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identified the R.1 variant following the outbreak in a Kentucky nursing home.

During the outbreak, 46 people comprising 26 residents and 20 health care workers contracted the Covid-19. Of the 26 residents, 18 people have been fully vaccinated.

Also read: Indonesia’s Java, Bali No Longer Deemed Covid-19 Red Zone Today

Meanwhile, only four out of 20 health workers have received the Covid-19 jab. The level of infection against unvaccinated residents is three times higher than those who have been vaccinated.

Meanwhile, the level of infection against unvaccinated health care workers is 4.1 times higher than the health care workers who have received their Covid-19 jabs.

Despite three residents, including two unvaccinated ones, have died, the CDC does not identify the R.1 variant as a variant of concern or interest.

(Writer: Haryanti Puspa Sari | Editor: Icha Rastika)

Source: https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2021/09/27/19515561/kemenkes-sebut-varian-corona-r1-belum-ada-di-indonesia.