KOTA KINABALU – Sabah’s first Omicron case was officially confirmed tonight, with Sabah health authorities linking it to the Millenium cluster in Sandakan detected on December 22 last year.
The case was imported from Saudi Arabia, as confirmed by Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin earlier today.
The Millenium cluster recorded 18 cases comprising 13 pilgrims and five close contacts as reported by local Sabah media outlets at the end of last year, Sabah Health Director Datuk Dr Rose Nani Mudin confirmed tonight.
A man who returned from Saudi Arabia after performing his umrah has been identified as the index case.
The Sabah Health Department instantly conducted testing and identified his infection as Omicron after weeks of testing.
Last year, Sabah Covid-19 spokesman Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun was reported as saying that the index case had undergone a Covid-19 PCR test at Kuala Lumpur International Airport upon returning to Malaysia.
The man then boarded a domestic flight to Sandakan and self-isolated at home.
His test results came out positive on December 17 and screening among his umrah group and close contacts found 10 more infections.
Labuan also reported its first Omicron case alongside this one.
Sabah today recorded 258 new cases, taking the total number of infections to 241,380 cases since Covid-19 was detected in the state about two years ago.
The state also recorded three deaths, one each in Kota Kinabalu, Tuaran, and Tawau. – The Vibes, January 4, 2022
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