KUCHING, Nov 3: Two Covid-19 Omicron XBB cases have been detected in Sarawak involving a traveller from the United States of America and an individual returning from performing the Umrah.
The State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said he was informed of the detected cases today.
“The Institute of Health and Community Medicine (IHCM) of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) made the discovery today in its sequencing run,” he said in a statement.
IHCM director Prof Dr David Perera reported the two cases were detected from samples of positive cases collected early last month.
The institute, Uggah said, is sequencing another batch of samples collected in the same month and is likely to detect more cases.
On the two cases, he explained that they were detected from two travellers.
“One is a traveller with a USA passport who was admitted to a local medical centre while the other one was returning from performing the Umrah,” he said.
According to Dr Perera, it is likely that the Omicron sublineage XBB of Covid-19 has been in Sarawak since early October. — DayakDaily
