By Wala’ Muiz
PUTRAJAYA, 25 December 2021: Minister of Health, Khairy Jamaluddin said that the PCR testing conducted on 145 travellers who arrived in Malaysia from 15 to 21 December showed that 45 of 60 presumptive patients were tested positive for Omicron variant.
Khairy was giving an update on the current situation of the new variant Omicron that has come to ‘invade’ Malaysia in his statement released today.
The PCR testings on the 145 travellers to Malaysia were done by the Institute for Medical Research (IMR).
Meanwhile, four cases of Omicron variant were detected in Sarawak by the Institute of Health and Community Medicine, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (IHCM-UNIMAS).
One out of all these patients was not a traveler but has been residing in Malaysia for over three years.
Explaining on the severity of the situation where the Omicron variant is now officially present in Malaysia and has a possibility of spreading to more people in the public, Khairy said that his Ministry has taken safety measures as it should.
Among the efforts is by strengthening the security of the national border for travelers in Malaysia.
Other than that, laboratory activities in surveilling of the variant of concern (VOC) are also reinforced.
MoH has also made it compulsory for travelers from overseas to do quarantine at the first point of entry or international gateway before entering Sarawak or any intended destinations where a negative RT-PCR is required before release.
Four hospitals such as Tuanku Jaafar Seremban Hospital and Sungai Buloh Hospital are the centres to test for variants among travelers or anyone who is highly symptomatic.
Another four hospitals in Sarawak have been strengthened in their laboratories’ capacities.
Furthermore, a whole-genome sequencing (WGS) has been conducted by the consortium of seven parties i.e IMR; National Public Health Laboratory (MKAK); IHCM-UNIMAS, UKM Medical Molecular Biology Institute, University in Kuala Lumpur (UMBI UKM); Tropical Infectious Diseases Research & Education Centre, Universiti Malaya (TIDREC UM); UiTM iPromise Institute; and Malaysia Genome Institute and Ministry of Science, Technology & Innovation (MGI MOSTI).
The government’s efforts must be aligned with the people’s initiatives to be safe on their own by adhering to the existing regulations, such as complying with social distancing, self-testing, and taking a booster shot for those who are already vaccinated to increase efficiency.
With solidarity, the endemic condition could be overcome more productively in the near future, the Minister said. ***