KOTA KINABALU – The first Omicron case in Sabah involved a man from Tawau, not from Sandakan as reported yesterday, clarified Sabah Covid-19 spokesman Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun today.
The imported Omicron case was confirmed on January 4 after the man returned from umrah with his wife on December 20.
Masidi said the individual was in Saudi Arabia between December 9 and 18 and arrived at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on December 19, before taking a connecting flight to Tawau the next day.
“The patient and his wife were instructed to self-quarantine at home upon their arrival in Tawau.
“The results from whole genome sequencing on January 4 revealed the patient was positive with the Omicron variant.
“His wife, who was also undergoing quarantine, was found positive with Covid-19 via the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test on December 24 last year.
“She is still awaiting her result for whole genome sequencing, which is still underway at the Institute of Medical Research,” he said.
Masidi said both patients received full vaccination as early as June last year and are currently in good health.
“The man was in Category 2 when he was confirmed positive with Covid-19 and the wife in Category 1. They both completed quarantine on January 1 and recovered from the infection,” he said.
Sabah today recorded a total of 280 new cases, up 22 cases from yesterday. – The Vibes, January 5, 2022
