.jpg "Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah speaks during his daily press conference on Covid-19 in Putrajaya February 9, 2021. u00e2u20acu201d Picture by Hari Anggara")
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 2 — Sixty-four cases of the Omicron Covid-19 variant have been detected in Malaysia up to today, according to Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham.
In a statement, Dr Noor Hisham revealed that along with the Omicron, 5,151 cases of the Delta variant, 233 cases of the Beta variant, and 14 cases of the Alpha variant were also detected; making up a total of 5,460 “Variants of Concern” (VoC).
“Meanwhile, for the Variants of Interest (VoI) cases, there were 13 cases of the Theta variant, four cases of the Kappa variant, and three cases of the Eta variant,” he said, adding the total to 20 cases.
All Omicron cases, except one case in Sarawak, were imported cases — detected from people coming to Malaysia from overseas.
In terms of states or Federal Territories, the highest number of the Omicron cases were found in Selangor (19) and Kuala Lumpur (17).
These were followed by Sarawak (eight), Pahang (four), Negri Sembilan (three), Perlis (three), Johor (two), Penang (two), Perak (two), Kedah (two), Melaka (one) and Terengganu (one).
Yesterday, the Health Ministry announced an indefinite halt to all Muslim minor pilgrimages to Saudi Arabia from January 8 after hundreds who returned to the country following their umrah were infected with Covid-19.
It also said it is studying the need for a second booster dose following the increased prevalence of the highly infectious Covid-19 Omicron variant globally.
