KUALA LUMPUR – The Health Ministry will continue to monitor developments regarding the UK B117 coronavirus strain, even though it has not yet been detected in Malaysia.
Deputy Director-General (research and technical support) Dr Hishamshah Mohd Ibrahim said genomic sequencing is conducted in labs when a new strain is detected.
“When travellers who have an epidemiological link with affected areas (Covid-19-affected countries), we will conduct the necessary genomic sequencing on the Covid-19-positive patient,” he told the Ruang Bicara programme on Bernama TV last night.
Two days ago, Singapore reported a confirmed case of the UK B117 strain involving a 17-year-old girl who studied in Britain in August.
Addressing concerns about the new A701V mutation of the coronavirus, Dr Hishamshah said based on studies conducted on a sample from the Benteng LD cluster in Sabah and the Covid-19 vaccine, the jab can protect Malaysians from the said strain.
On the quarantine period for Malaysians returning from abroad being shortened to 10 days from 14, he said this is in line with assurances given by the World Health Organisation and other foreign health authorities, including the United States Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
“At the start of the pandemic, we decided on 14 days, but after studying the data in our country, we find that there isn’t a big difference between 14 days and 10 days.
“And, the risk of infecting others is much higher in the first week of infection. After the first week, the chance of transmitting the virus isn’t high.” – Bernama, December 25, 2020
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