ITD-UNAIR director Maria Ingelusida said data of two whole virus genome sequences had been sent to Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data , while the four others were in the finishing phase at the lab.
She said the six whole virus genome sequences might reveal the origin of SARS-CoV-2 in East Java. Data of three whole genome sequences submitted earlier by the Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology to GISAID were all similar to the Chinese clade, she added. Maria said SARS-CoV-2 was an ribonucleic acid virus that easily mutated. Therefore, she said, the SARS-CoV-2 whole genome sequences from Indonesia would certainly have some genetic peculiarities although they were closer to either the Chinese branch or the European branch.
The complete six isolated SARS-CoV-2 sequences were among 20 samples taken from Covid-19 patients in Surabaya and several other cities in East Java, she said.
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