JOHOR BARU – Johor has recorded its two earliest Covid-19 cases of the Omicron variant via a couple returning home from Saudi Arabia, said state Health and Environment Committee chairman R. Vidyananthan.
He said the duo had left the country on December 4 to perform the umrah pilgrimage, and returned to Malaysia through the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on December 16.
“The December 16 RT-PCR screening test – conducted at the international gateway – was found to be positive on December 18. The samples were then sent to the Institute for Medical Research for the genome sequencing process, and the results were later found to be Omicron-positive.
“Both (individuals) are undergoing isolation at home. All close contacts have also been identified, and instructed to undergo home quarantine,” he said in a statement today.
With this latest development, Vidyananthan reminded Johoreans returning from abroad – especially umrah pilgrims – to comply with the stipulated quarantine order.
Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin yesterday said a total of 49 new Omicron cases had been detected in the country as of Friday.
In the meantime, 30 cases involved Malaysians arriving from Saudi Arabia on December 13-17, while the remainder comprised arrivals from the United Kingdom, Qatar, the United States, Nigeria, Turkey, Italy, Ghana, and the United Arab Emirates. – Bernama, December 26, 2021
