KUALA LUMPUR – Four samples of genome related to positive Covid-19 cases in Parliament screened on Thursday, most likely involve the highly infectious Delta variant.
Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah in his latest post on his official Facebook account said these samples, which were received by the Institute for Medical Research (IMR) from the Sungai Buloh National Public Health Laboratory, showed positivity with low CT value.
“We have carried out a PCR genotyping assay that can provide presumptive results for variants of concerns or interest while the whole genome sequencing (WGS) takes about 8-14 days to complete.
“In the interest of public health, while awaiting results from WGS, IMR carried out a genotyping assay (Allplex SARS-CoV-2 Variants II Assay) which utilises real time PCR platform and can provide presumptive results for variants of concern or interest within four hours,” he said.
From the genotyping assay, Dr Noor Hisham said IMR detected two important mutations in all four cases, indicating a presumptive positive for the Delta or Kappa variants.
“Based on current circulation of variants in Malaysia, it’s most likely to be Delta variant,” he said.
According to Dr Noor Hisham, based on clinical studies abroad and the World Health Organisation (WHO), cases with the Delta variant have a virus content that is 1,200 times higher than cases involving the normal variant.
As such, he said the whole genomic sequencing would be conducted for further confirmation. – Bernama, August 2, 2021
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