By Ling Hui
KUCHING, Dec 19: The Covid-19 Omicron variant has 70 times faster replication ability in respiratory tracts than the Delta variant, according to a study by World Health Organisation (WHO).
The Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) in stating this, also stressed that 77 countries, as of Dec 14, have reported detection of the Omicron variant.
In Malaysia, the Ministry of Health (MOH) also confirmed the discovery of 11 new Omicron cases, bringing the total to 13 nationwide.
Among the 11, two were in Sarawak, both of them categorised as Import-A cases indicating infection from abroad.
“The two Sarawak cases confirmed as Omicron variants are Malaysians who have returned to Sarawak, one each from the United Kingdom and the USA.
“Both cases entered Malaysia on 11 December 2021 via KLIA (Kuala Lumpur International Airport) and were allowed to continue their journey to Sarawak after swabs for RT-PCR were taken at KLIA,” said SDMC in a statement today.
The RT-PCR results were relayed to the Sarawak State Health Department (JKNS) on Dec 16 and active case detection (ACD) of close contacts including in-flight contacts, was carried out immediately by the Kuching Divisional Health Office.
Although the cases have been quarantined at designated quarantine stations upon entering Sarawak from abroad, the risk of exposure might have occurred during the journey to Sarawak, including in aircraft transiting from other states to Sarawak.
Meanwhile, SDMC also noted the increase in Import-A cases into Sarawak in the month of December.
“During the period Dec 1 to 18, a total of 20 Import-A cases were detected through screening during entry into Sarawak, compared to 18 cases during November,” it added. — Dayakdaily
