Covid-19: China’s two main variants detected in Malaysia
SHAH ALAM - The two main Covid-19 variants that are spreading in China – the BA.5.2 variant and the BF.7 variant – have been detected in Malaysia, Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah says.
He said that as of Dec 31, there were 4,148 cases infected with BA.5.2 and three cases infected with BF.7.
“However, no data can link the increase in the number of cases or death with the BA.5.2 and BF.1 variants.
“This situation will be reviewed from time to time when there are any significant changes that in turn require changes in the public health strategy.
“This matter will be announced immediately by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to all WHO member countries as well as the general population,” he said in a statement that addressed the country’s current Covid-19 situation today.
Dr Noor Hisham said the two variants in question comprised more than 80 per cent of the infectious variants in China at this point.
“Both variants belong to the Omicron BA.5 sublineage and have not yet been classified as Lineage Under Monitoring (LUM) by WHO.
“However, both BA.5.2 and BF.7 variants are believed to cause re-infection or have a higher infection rate due to the high number of cases in China,” he said.
