Indonesia Detects New Covid Arcturus Variant

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – Indonesia has confirmed a new Covid-19 sub-variant Omicron XBB.1.16 or Arcturus after two cases were recently detected in the country, said an official.

“Yes, two cases have been found,” the head of the Communication and Public Services Bureau of the Health Ministry Siti Nadia Tarmizi told Kompas.com on Friday, April 14.

Nadia said that the cases were found in two different individuals on March 23 and March 27. One of them is an international traveler.

Nadia mentioned that the symptoms are not categorized as severe. She also acknowledged that this sub-variant is highly transmissible, but does not cause fatalities.

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"Only one was hospitalized. The other had no symptoms and was a foreign traveler," she said.
Furthermore, Nadia said that the Ministry of Health is still conducting epidemiological examinations. However, she confirmed that the patients have recovered.

"They have recovered, and only experienced symptoms for 5-6 days," she added.

Previously, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned of the danger of the new Arcturus Covid-19 sub-variant XBB.1.16 and it is very similar to "Kraken" XBB.1.5, spreading rapidly in the United States.

This article has been translated from Indonesian, partly with the help of an artificial intelligence tool.

(Writer: Fika Nurul Ulya | Editor: Dani Prabowo)

Source: https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2023/04/14/09291931/kemenkes-konfirmasi-2-kasus-subvarian-arcturus-di-indonesia.