Kelantan has recorded a total of 10 Covid-19 cases involving the South African variant B.1.351 after individuals from the state attended a wedding in Kuala Lumpur.
According to State Government, Health and Housing Committee chairman Dr Izani Husin, the figure was from the new Kampung Bunut Sarang Burung cluster and was detected as a result of interstate travel, reported Berita Harian.
“For the case of the South African variant B.1.351, we detected it as a result of interstate travel. Maybe the people of Kelantan went to Kuala Lumpur to attend a feast before bringing back the variant,” he said.
“For cases triggered by interstate travel, we cannot blame the travellers simply because it involves both parties, namely the people of Kelantan who travelled abroad, as well as outsiders entering Kelantan.”
Dr Izani added that the existence of the variant in Kelantan is very surprising because it has five effects that make it dangerous.
“Among these effects are the high rate of infectivity and how it reduces the body’s immunity. Besides that, those infected with Covid-19 from that variant will have it worse than other patients,” he said.
“Therefore, I remind all parties, including the dignitaries, not to travel interstate if there are no important matters.”
“This is a matter that is difficult for the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) in an effort to prevent interstate travel because each one has a letter of permission.”
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health detected 27 more cases of the same South African variant throughout Malaysia yesterday (2 May).
Dr Noor Hisham said that the cases were detected through genomic surveillance that has been conducted since 24 April. He said these 27 cases were then confirmed by the Institute for Medical Research (IMR), reported NST.
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