PETALING JAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Two sub-variants of the Omicron variant have been detected in Malaysia, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said on Thursday (June 9).
"Malaysia has just sequenced two BA.5 and one BA.2.12.1 cases. This is the first time these variant lineages have been detected," he wrote in a Twitter post.
He added that both were categorised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as as VOC-LUM or variants of concern lineages under monitoring, under the Omicron variant of the Covid-19 virus.
"So far, risk factors remain the same," said Khairy.
Both sub-variants are thought to be more transmissible.
Malaysia on Thursday logged 1,518 new Covid-19 cases, bringing the total caseload since March 2020 to 4.518 million.
Malaysia entered into the endemic phase of living with the virus on April 1, with all economic and social activities restored, except that the wearing of masks is compulsory in indoor settings. The wearing of masks is optional outdoors.
People admitted into Malaysian hospitals due to Covid-19 is low at 12.7 per cent of the total 470 admissions on Wednesday.
Of the 26 patients now in intensive care units of hospitals, only 5.8 per cent are caused by Covid-19.
