Indonesia: XBB variant transmits faster than BA.5, BA.2, says Government Spokesperson

Jakarta, The Gulf Observer: The XBB COVID-19 variant has a faster transmission rate as compared to the BA.5 and BA.2 variants, Indonesian government spokesperson for COVID-19 handling Reisa Broto Asmoro stated at the Presidential Palace, here, Thursday.

“If we look at the XBB wave in Singapore, turns out it has a 0.79 (percent) faster transmission rate than the BA.5 variant wave and 0.46 (percent) faster rate than the BA.2 wave,” she explained.

Despite this, symptoms of the new XBB variant are similar to other Omicron variants. In fact, the fatality rate of the XBB variant is lower as compared to that of the other Omicron variants.

According to the US’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the XBB variant’s symptoms comprise chills, cough, fatigue, muscle aches, headache, and sore throat.

The symptoms also involve stuffy nose or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea, and shortness of breath.

Meanwhile, four XBB variant patients in Indonesia experienced symptoms of cough and stuffy nose.

“Thus, it can be considered that the symptoms that it caused are generally mild,” she remarked.

Asmoro emphasized that all parties should learn from the situation in the neighboring country Singapore, which indicates that XBB has a faster transmission rate as compared to the other Omicron variants.

According to Asmoro, based on earlier experience in handling the pandemic, the rise in cases almost always occurred after new variants emerge.

“We learn from the situation in our neighboring country to improve our alertness. We cannot let the number of cases to spike again in Indonesia,” she remarked.

Until October 26, 2022, a rise was recorded in the number of daily COVID-19 confirmed cases nationally in Indonesia, with 3,048 cases.

This figure increased from the previous days wherein the addition rate was only 1,703 cases on October 24, 2022, and 3,008 cases on October 25, 2022.