PUTRAJAYA – New Covid-19 variants have been identified as among the reasons why more young people are getting infected and suffering worse symptoms, resulting in them requiring intensive care, said Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.
Since the beginning of this year up to Friday, he said, coronavirus cases have been highest among those aged between 20 and 29 at 1,531, followed by those aged 30 to 39 (1,452).
“They are people of working age. Experts at Sg Buloh Hospital have confirmed that younger individuals are getting infected with the new variants, and there are cases that do not respond to treatment. Treatment with steroids has also been ineffective,” he told a press conference here yesterday.
So far, there have been 56 cases of variants of concern and three of variants of interest detected in Malaysia, he said.
Of the total, 48 cases involve the South African strain (B.1.351), eight are linked to the United Kingdom strain (B.117), two are of the Nigerian variant (B.1.525) and one is linked to the Indian strain (B.1.617.1).
“These variants have been in the community. For example, the B.117 variant was in Sandakan, but we could not determine where it originated from,” said Dr Noor Hisham.
“The new variants are more aggressive. If they are detected in young people, the Health Ministry will conduct genomic sequencing and close observation to determine the variant.”
He said Covid-19 has “adapted” to infect humans with new strains.
He urged the public to continue abiding by health and safety standard operating procedures, including the interstate travel ban.
“What we should do is stay home, because most of the infections are sporadic cases of transmission within the community.” – Bernama, May 9, 2021
