Smartcitizen, you may often hear the reports that there are several variants of coronavirus that have been identified in Indonesia. There are variants of Alpha, Delta, and now, Omicron. These variants are classified as a variant of concern by the World Health Organization. Of these variants, there is one with high mortality rate and there are also those that only cause mild symptoms. However, have you ever wondered why there are so many variants of coronavirus and what are the differences between these variants? Read the explanation through this article.
[Read more about Omicron, here]
Differences in Covid-19 Variants Caused by Mutations
The emergence of various variants of Covid-19 is caused by mutations. The mutation process can occur due to the virus' response to environmental changes. This mutation process can lead to the emergence of new variants which are then also monitored by experts and the World Health Organization.
Some of these new variants have their own levels of attention or concern. Some fall into the category of variants that became the main concern, or can be referred to as ‘variants of concern’. Variants that fall into this classification are considered as a major concern with high rate of transmission and deemed to have a significant impact on the community. Variants of this category include Alpha, Beta, Delta, Gamma, and Omicron. In addition, there is a variant of Covid-19 that is predicted to have an impact on public health or what is referred to as a ‘variant of interest’. Variants in this category include Lambda and Mu. However, there is also a group of Covid-19 variants that are not yet known how the impact and the way its spread to humans. This group is referred to as a variant under monitoring, for example kappa, Iota, and epsilon. The presence of these diverse variants can have an impact on the rate of transmission, the way it is cured, and also the symptoms of the disease. So, how is the difference between each variant of Covid-19?
How Covid-19 Variants Compares
Of these various variants of Covid-19, some of them have been identified in Indonesia. As per the Ministry of Health official website, in May 2021 there already three variants of Covid-19, namely Alpha, Beta, and Delta. And now, with the presence of the new Omicron variant that entered Indonesia last December, it makes a total of four variants that have entered Indonesia. So, what are the differences between the four variants?
The difference between the four variants can be seen from the place of detection, symptoms, and the rate of transmission. The four variants enter Indonesia in 2021 in several regions. For symptoms, between the four variants are almost the same, such as cough, fever, headache, sore throat, muscle pain, and anosmia (loss sense of smell). But of the four variants, Delta is the one with the most severe risk, and Omicron considered as the one with the mildest symptoms among the four. In terms of transmission rate, the Omicron variant is classified as the variant with the fastest transmission rate of about 500% of the spread of the Delta variant, while Beta’s transmission rate is not yet known.
In addition to these four variants, there are still other Covid-19 variants but have not yet been identified in Indonesia, such as the Gamma variant found in Brazil in 2020, the Lambda variant found in Peru in December 2020, and the Kappa variant found in India in October 2020.
Even so, we also need to be aware of the emergence of other Covid-19 variants. The prevention of each variant is more or less the same, namely obeying health protocols (wearing masks, washing hands, maintaining distance, reducing mobility, staying away from eating together, and staying away from crowds), and getting vaccinated. Both of these methods are effective enough to reduce the spread rate of various variants of Covid-19.
Therefore, as a Smartcitizen, you can contribute in the fight to reduce the spread of Covid-19 by vaccinating and staying aware of the development of Covid-19 in Jakarta through JAKI, which you can download it on Google Play Store or Apple App Store.
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