MOH to continue monitoring the UK B117 virus strain

Health deputy director-general (research and technical support) Dr Hishamshah Mohd Ibrahim said genomic sequencing will be conducted in labs if a new strain is detected.

"When travellers who have an epidemiological link with affected areas (COVID-19 affected countries), we will conduct the necessary genomic sequencing on the COVID-19 positive patient,” he said when appearing as a guest on the Ruang Bicara programme that aired on Bernama TV last night.

Singapore on Dec 23 reported a confirmed case of UK B117 virus strain involving a 17-year-old girl who studied in the United Kingdom (UK) in August.

Addressing the public’s concern regarding the new A701V mutation in the country, based on the studies conducted on the sample from the Benteng LD cluster in Sabah and the effectiveness of the vaccine, Dr Hishamshah said the existing vaccine is effective in protecting Malaysians from being infected by the new COVID-19 strain or the mutation.

On the quarantine period for Malaysians returning from abroad being shortened to 10 days compared to the previous 14 days, Dr Hishamshah said the step was in line with the World Health Organisation’s assurance and other foreign health authorities, including the United States Centre for Disease Control.

"At the start of the pandemic, we decided on 14 days but after studying the data from our country, we find that there isn’t a big difference between 14 days and 10 days.

"...and the risk of infecting others is much higher during the first week of infection, after the first week, the chance of transmitting the virus isn’t high,” he explained.