A medical worker conducts Covid-19 polymerase chain reaction tests. — Bernama photo
KUCHING (Nov 3): Two Covid-19 XBB recombinant variant cases have been detected in Sarawak.
Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah said he was informed of the cases today.
“The Institute of Health and Community Medicine (IHCM) of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) made the discovery today in its sequencing run.
“IHCM director Prof Dr David Perera said they were detected from samples of positive cases collected early last month. The institute is sequencing another batch of samples collected in the same month and is likely to detect more cases,” he said.
On the two cases detected, Uggah said they were from two travellers.
“One is a traveller with a USA passport admitted at a local medical centre, while the other one had returned from performing the Umrah. According to Dr David, it is likely too that the XBB has now spread in the state since early October,” he said.
On Oct 31, caretaker Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said Malaysia is currently experiencing a small wave of Covid-19 cases following the discovery of the Omicron XBB sub-variant in the country.
He said the XBB sub-variant had caused a wave in Singapore, which took three to four weeks to decrease.
Khairy said four cases were detected in Malaysia as of Oct 27 involving three men and one woman, aged 25 to 51, from Selangor and Negeri Sembilan.
All of them were in category two where they experienced mild symptoms of fever, cough, sore throat, and flu.
Out of the four cases, only one was a reinfection, and all of them had been isolated for seven days, while all close contacts had also been identified.
He added while the use of face masks is not mandatory, it is highly recommended, especially in crowded closed areas and for high-risk individuals.
Front-line staff are also encouraged to take the second booster dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.