Malaysia entering new Covid-19 wave as Omicron BA.5 variant hits
Malaysia is entering a new Covid-19 wave, with the Omicron BA.5 variant already present in the country. Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the ministry had already detected five BA.5 variants through genomic sequencing as of June 30. "This means that BA.5 is already present in the country. These cases were found through genomic sequencing on positive cases between May and June. "There is a big possibility that BA.5 has already spread widely in Malaysia," he told a press conference at Parliament today. Meanwhile, Khairy said the country has seen a 31 per cent increase in Covid-19 cases from July 3 to 7. He informed that hospitalisations had also increased by 13.7 per cent, from 835 patients last week to 968 patients this week. "A majority of the cases are in categories one and two. This is something that we have expected," he said.
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https://dai.ly/x8cbvyu KUALA LUMPUR: Five cases of the fast-spreading Covid-19 Omicron BA.5 variant have been detected in the country, says Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin. He warned the public that the ministry expected the number of Covid-19 cases to rise in the next few weeks as the newer Omicron variants spread easily. ALSO READ: KJ: We may issue compounds if cases spike Apart from these five cases, other cases of Omicron sub-lineage variants that have been detected were six cases of BA.2.12.1 and two incidents of BA.5.2. “All these cases were detected between May and June. However, there are no cases of sub-lineage Omicron BA.4 recorded so far. ALSO READ: Bracing for another wave of Covid-19 infections “We are expecting that new infections will increase due to Omicron BA.4 and BA.5, especially the BA.5. This is because Omicron BA.5 spreads easily compared with previous Omicron variants BA.1 and BA.2,” he told a press conference here yesterday. Khairy said the new Covid-19 wave should not be taken lightly as 4,020 cases were reported just on July 7. ALSO READ: Many having second thoughts on second booster From July 3 to 7, the ministry had already recorded 14,967 cases, which is an increase of 31% compared with the previous week’s 11,394 cases, he added. There was also a 13.7% increase in hospital admissions to 968 patients during this period from the 835 patients in the previous week. Ten deaths were recorded. He added that those who have completed their Covid-19 vaccination or had been infected previously could also be infected with this variant. “Those who have not taken their booster, especially senior citizens and people who have comorbidities, should get their booster shot, as it is vital against the new wave of Omicron BA.5. “A total of 7,393,199 (31.40%) people have not taken their first booster shot while 151,018 (6.06%) individuals have received their second booster shot as at July 7,” he said. Khairy also said that the ministry’s technical committee was still looking into the need for a second booster shot among those aged 60 and below without any illnesses, while vaccination for those aged five years and below was still not recommended. However, he said there were some people who used a loophole with the excuse of travelling to get a second booster shot. The second booster is available free of charge at registered private vaccination centres listed at https://vaksincovid.protecthealth.com.my/find. For those aged 18 to 59 in the immunocompromised category, Khairy advised they undergo an evaluation first before getting the second booster shot.He also said that as at July 3, 4,001 patients who have taken the Paxlovid antiviral medicine showed no serious side effects.
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