Reasons for the Corona Virus to have Mutations and New Variants to Appear

Jakarta, CNN Indonesia –

Covid-19 progressively developing in a way mutate as its massive spread throughout the world. The emergence of this new variant of the corona virus did not surprise scientists. Because that’s one way the virus survives.

According to Epidemiologist from Griffith University Australia, Dicky Budiman said mutation is a natural process resulting from changes in the genetic code of a virus, which when reproducing itself has a change in the genetic code.

Dicky said the new variant did not come from a new virus because the virus content in the mutated Covid-19 was still the same.

A virologist from the Yale School of Public Health, Nathan Grubaugh, said the mutation that occurs is the reproduction process of the replica of the virus itself. According to him, mutation is one of the ways for viruses to adapt to new environments.

When the replica is made, the virus often makes mistakes. This replica error is known as a mutation, which is a change in genetic material between the new virus and its parents.

Through scientific journals “We shouldn’t worry when a virus mutates during disease outbreaks“(We don’t have to worry when the virus mutates during a disease outbreak), Grubaugh and other researchers explain how the SARS-Cov-2 coronavirus mutates.

“The rate at which viruses mutate or develop is not surprising. All viruses continue to evolve by means of mutations. So, there should be nothing to worry about because this process is general in nature,” said Grubaugh.

He further explained that it was through this mutation that the SARS Cov-2 virus could become a pandemic in the world, which was initially transmitted between animals. However, it is the mutation that ultimately allows this virus to be transmitted from animals to humans.

Now several corona virus mutations have occurred in several countries in the world. Among them in England and South Africa. In that country the virus mutates into a variant of the corona virus, namely b117 to B1351 or 501Y.V2.

Here are 5 mutation variants of the corona virus that have almost spread to several countries in the world and have entered Indonesia:

1. Mutation of B117

Indonesia confirmed the first four cases of the mutation of the B117 corona virus on March 8, 2021. This number is outside of the two cases previously found in Karawang, West Java. The findings were obtained from January to February 2021.

The Indonesian government also found 4 confirmed cases of B117 cases in Palembang, South Sumatra on January 11, 2021.

This virus mutation is known to be first discovered in England and is now spreading widely to several countries. Several countries have also reported the variant, including in Malaysia and Singapore.

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) predicts this mutation to become the dominant virus in the US, this is because the variant is more contagious.