The Ministry of Health (MOH) reported 11 more cases of Omicron variants in the country, all of which are imported cases, involving Malaysians and foreign travellers from the United Kingdom, the United States, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Australia.
Director-General of Health, Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said, of the total, three cases each are from the United Kingdom and the United States, two each from Nigeria and Saudi Arabia and one case from Australia. In a statement shared on MOH’s official page, he said,
“It involves nine cases of Malaysians while two cases of Nigerians. There are eight cases with symptoms, however, only at the level of category two and the other three cases were asymptomatic. Five cases are quarantined at home, while six cases are quarantined at quarantine stations. All these cases are under further investigation to identify the cause of the infection and close contact.”
He said the 11 cases were detected after tests were conducted on 18 cases suspected to be Omicron variants as announced by Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin on December 16.
In the meantime, Dr Noor Hisham said the detection of 11 cases brought the cumulative number of imported cases of confirmed Omicron variants to 13 cases, while yesterday (17 December) the Institute for Medical Research (IMR) also detected 13 more imported cases indicating the possibility of Omicron variants.
Read the full statement here:
KENYATAAN MEDIA KEMENTERIAN KESIHATAN MALAYSIAPERKEMBANGAN SEMASA VARIAN BAHARU OMICRON (B.1.1.529) DAN LANGKAH-LANGKAH KAWALAN SERTA PENCEGAHAN DI MALAYSIA
Posted by KEMENTERIAN KESIHATAN MALAYSIA on Friday, December 17, 2021
He said the confirmation results from the full genome sequence (WGS) is pending at the moment and more information on it would be made public from time to time. The MOH encourages every individual to take the Covid-19 booster shot so that the optimal level of protection can be achieved to curb the spread of Covid-19 in Malaysia. Let us continue to adopt new norms and adhere to existing standard operating procedures.
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