Eight RT-PCR samples including country's first Omicron case were negative - Noor Hisham

KUALA LUMPUR: The result of a Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test sample of a traveller who was recorded as the first positive COVID-19 Omicron variant in the country was negative.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the results were also negative for seven close contacts of the traveller namely, the driver, a university employee, three students and two roommates.

"The latest were from Perak. All eight RT-PCR samples today were negative including the first Omicron index case in the country (South Africa) and seven close contact cases namely the driver, a university employee, three university students (Two Ghanaians and an Indian national) and two roommates," he said in a tweet tonight.

Earlier Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin in a media conference this morning said the 19-year-old woman traveller who was confirmed infected with COVID-19 Omicron variant, is studying at a private university in Ipoh, Perak and had a travel record to South Africa.

Khairy said the traveller arrived from South Africa via Singapore on Nov 19 2021 and had taken a RT-PCR COVID-19 test upon arrival at the checkpoint in Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

The individual was given an Order For Supervision and Observation under Section 15 of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 and had completed the quarantine period for 10 days at a residence provided by the university, he said.

-- BERNAMA