It seems the Omicron variant is slowly seeping into the community, the Ministry of Health has detected 49 new cases of COVID-19 infection of the Omicron variant in the country bringing the cumulative number of cases to 62. Health
Minister Khairy Jamaluddin stated that of the total, 61 cases are imported cases, while one is likely to be a local infection reported in Sarawak. Out of which he also added that 30 were from those returning from Saudi Arabia performing Umrah and had not adhered to home quarantine procedures.
The Institute for Medical Research which conducted the PCR Genotyping Assay test on 145 COVID-19 positive samples among travelers from over the previous 2 week period, Ministry identified 60 of them were to be presumptive Omicron variant. However, these samples have now been confirmed as Omicron variants through the genome sequencing conducted by IMR.
Accordingly, the Institute of Health and Community Medicine, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak had detected four cases of Omicron variant in the state with the latest involving a 38-year-old male Chinese national who had been working at an engineering company in Sarawak for three years.
Surprisingly, the case has no history of traveling abroad in the past three years leaving the cause of the infection have yet to be identified. The patient is currently undergoing quarantine.
