Category: Medical

KUCHING, Feb 6 — The Omicron variant has now replaced the Delta variant as the dominant circulating COVID-19 variant in the state, said Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) Institute of Health and Community Medicine (IHCM) director, Dr David Perera.

In his latest report to Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, today, he revealed that the detection rate of 78 per cent of the Omicron had been discovered from the surveillance data of positive cases from Jan 3 to 26, this year.

According to Dr David, 58 samples were successfully sequenced over the period and out of these, 45 from the Omicron and 13 Delta variants of concern were detected.

“The 78 per cent detection rate suggests that Omicron has replaced Delta as the dominant circulating variant in Sarawak,” he said, adding that the Omicron cases were detected in samples taken from Kuching, Samarahan, Sibu, Kapit, Mukah and Miri.

Dr David said the majority were of the BA.1.1 lineage but three cases of the more infectious BA.2 were identified in Kapit and most of these cases occurred through community transmission.

In light of the increasing number of cases in the country, Dr David who is a member of Sarawak COVID-19 Vaccine Advisory Group (SCoVAG), advised those who have yet to get their booster dose to do so immediately.

Studies, he said, had shown that a booster shot was necessary to boost waning neutralising antibody levels to protect from Omicron infection.

He also reminded the people to continue complying strictly with the health standard operating procedure (SOP) and to avoid community gatherings if possible to prevent further spread of the virus.

The IHCM of UNIMAS has been tracking the SARS-CoV-2 variants circulating in the state.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KOTA BHARU, Feb 6 — The current standard operating procedures (SOP) for congregational prayers in mosques, surau and madrasah have proven to be effective in curbing the spread of COVID-19, says Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Ahmad Marzuk Shaary.

He said this could be seen by the fact that no mosque-related clusters have been reported so far, and therefore, the existing SOP would also be used for the special tarawih prayers during the month of Ramadan.

“That is why we have maintained the SOP until today, and if there is a change in the next two months before Ramadan, it will be announced by the government. If any (changes are announced), it is up to the views of the respective state religious councils to use the SOP effectively.

“We have also learned from several incidents that occurred last Ramadan when there were clusters of tarawih groups that did not comply with the SOP. Therefore, the government and the authorities will intensify monitoring so that congregants comply with the SOP set,” he said.

He was speaking to reporters after attending the Food Bank Contribution presentation ceremony by Yayasan Pembangunan Ekonomi Islam Malaysia (YaPEIM) at Kolej Uniti here today, which was also attended by Kota Bharu Kolej Uniti chief operating officer Mohd Shaharom Azmin and Kelantan YaPEIM Administrative Centre general manager Nik Mohd Nurul Ihsan Salleh.

The media previously reported that the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) did not intend to introduce specific SOP for tarawih prayers during Ramadan this year, and would instead maintain the existing ones in use.

Meanwhile, commenting on a recent ‘trend’ of couples getting divorced through the WhatsApp application, Ahmad Marzuk said the divorce was legal, but it was not ethical in nature.

“Based on the (Syarie) law, a divorce through WhatsApp is legal, but it is not good in terms of morals. From a moral point of view, a husband should not simply divorce his wife arbitrarily in such a manner, Islam teaches us to stay together on good terms, and if we want to let go (of the spouse), we should do it amicably.

“In fact, in order to safeguard the welfare of both parties, they must follow the divorce procedure through the court to obtain an official divorce certificate,” he said.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 2 — The number of COVID-19 new daily cases breached the 5,000 mark for two consecutive days when 5,736 cases were reported today compared to 5,566 cases yesterday.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said this brings the cumulative number of COVID-19 cases in the country to 2,882,060 as of noon today.

Of the total new cases today, he said 46 cases were in categories three, four and five while the rest were in categories one and two.

“A total of 183 infections are imported cases while 5,553 are local transmissions and 112 cases are currently in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with 54 cases requiring respiratory support,” he said in a daily statement on the current COVID-19 situation in the country.

Dr Noor Hisham said 3,196 recoveries were reported today, taking the cumulative number of recovered cases to 2,790,386.

In addition, he said eight new clusters were identified today and so far 322 clusters are still active.

He said the country’s infectivity rate (Rt), was currently at 1.15 with Perlis recording the highest Rt at 1.29, followed by Putrajaya (1.21) and Johor (1.17) as of yesterday.

Other detailed information on the current COVID-19 infection and transmission in Malaysia will be uploaded to the COVIDNOW website at https://covidnow.moh.gov.my. The data will be updated at midnight daily.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia reported 5,139 new COVID-19 infections as of midnight, bringing the national total to 2,861,069, according to the health ministry.

There are 226 new imported cases, with 4,913 being local transmissions, data released on the ministry’s website showed.

A further five deaths have been reported, bringing the death toll to 31,957.

The ministry reported 3,767 new recoveries, bringing the total number of cured and discharged to 2,777,715.

There are 51,397 active cases, 119 are being held in intensive care and 69 of those are in need of assisted breathing.

The country reported 97,300 vaccine doses administered yesterday alone, and 79.8 percent of the population have received at least one dose, 78.7 percent are fully vaccinated and 36.2 percent have received booster shots.

Source: Nam News Network

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia reported 5,522 new COVID-19 infections as of midnight, bringing the national total to 2,855,930, according to the health ministry.

There are 373 new imported cases, with 5,149 being local transmissions, data released by the ministry showed.

A further 12 deaths have been reported, bringing the death toll to 31,952.

The ministry reported 3,285 new recoveries, bringing the total number of cured and discharged to 2,773,948.

Among 50,030 active cases, 127 are being held in intensive care and 70 of those are in need of assisted breathing.

The country reported 178,567 vaccine doses administered yesterday alone, and 79.8 percent of the population have received at least one dose. Of them, 78.7 percent are fully vaccinated and 35.9 percent have received boosters.

Source: Nam News Network