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KUALA LUMPUR: The Ministry of Health (MOH) will continue to closely monitor developments of the UK B117 virus strain even though it has yet to be detected in Malaysia.
The deputy director general of health (research and technical support), Dr. Hishamshah Mohd Ibrahim, said that genomic sequencing will be carried out in the laboratories if a new strain is detected.
“When travelers who have an epidemiological link with the affected areas (countries affected by Covid-19), we will perform the necessary genomic sequencing in the positive patient for Covid-19,” he said when appearing as a guest on the Ruang Bicara program that was broadcast the Bernama TV last night.
Singapore reported on 23 December a confirmed case of the UK B117 virus strain involving a 17-year-old girl who studied in the United Kingdom (UK) in August.
Addressing the public’s concern regarding the new A701V mutation in the country, based on studies conducted with the sample from the Benteng LD group in Sabah and the effectiveness of the vaccine, Dr. Hishamshah said that the existing vaccine is effective for protect Malaysians from infection by the new Covid-19 strain or mutation.
On reducing the quarantine period for Malaysians returning from abroad to 10 days compared to the previous 14 days, Dr. Hishamshah said the step was in line with the guarantee of the World Health Organization and other health authorities. foreign, including the United States Center for Disease Control.
“At the beginning of the pandemic, we decided on 14 days, but after studying the data from our country, we found that there is not a big difference between 14 days and 10 days.
“… and the risk of infecting others is much higher during the first week of infection, after the first week, the possibility of transmitting the virus is not high,” he explained. – Called
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