27 more cases of S. African B.1.351 variant detected
KUALA LUMPUR: The Health Ministry has detected 27 more cases of the South African Covid-19 variant, B.1.351, in Malaysia.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the cases were detected through genomic surveillance conducted from April 24 to yesterday.
He said these 27 cases were confirmed by the Institute for Medical Research.
“These latest infections bring the total number of cases involving the South African B.1.351 variant to 48.
“This variant was detected for the first time in Perak and Kelantan, involving two clusters, along with seven cases detected in Selangor.”
He said 10 cases each were detected in the Jalan Canning Estate cluster and Kampung Bunut Sarang Burung cluster, and seven from close contact.
He added that three more cases of the UK B.1.1.7 variant were detected, bringing the total to eight.
The cases were detected from the Lorong Megah Jaya cluster (one) and close-contact screening (two).
Dr Noor Hisham also said Malaysia had detected its first Covid-19 variant of the highly infectious “Indian strain” with double mutations, called B.1.617.1.
“The case involved an individual with a travel history to Mumbai, India.
“He entered Malaysia using an employment pass on April 10 and tested positive for Covid-19 at the international entry point on the same day.
“The case was identified to be infected with B.1.617.1.
“The case has been isolated and is receiving treatment.”
Meanwhile, Malaysia yesterday recorded 3,418 Covid-19 cases with Selangor having 1,200 new infections.
The infections raised the national tally to 415,012 with active cases at a record 30,339.
Dr Noor Hisham said Sarawak registered the second-highest number of cases at 587, followed by Kelantan (400), Johor (213), Kuala Lumpur (198) and Terengganu (184).
Other states that recorded three-digit new infections were Penang (145), Sabah (115) and Kedah (101).
“Perak recorded 77 new infections, followed by Negri Sembilan (73), Melaka (61), Pahang (45), Putrajaya (eight), Labuan (seven), and Perlis with four new cases.”
Of the local infections, Dr Noor Hisham said it involved 3,134 Malaysians and 274 foreigners.
“Ten imported cases were reported today (yesterday), involving nine foreigners.”
He said Malaysia reported 12 more fatalities, raising the death toll to 1,533 (0.37 per cent).
“The new deaths were reported in Perak (one), Kelantan (three), two each in Negri Sembilan, Johor and Sarawak, and one each in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur.”
All had a medical history of chronic ailments, such as diabetes, high-blood pressure, heart and kidney complications, and dyslipidemia.
He said 345 patients were being treated in intensive care units with 175 on ventilator support.
He said 2,698 patients had recovered, bringing the cumulative recoveries to 383,140 (92.32 per cent).
He said 11 new clusters were reported in five states: Selangor, Sarawak, Johor, Melaka and Kedah.
He said five clusters were linked to the community, two linked to education institutes under the Education Ministry, one linked to a higher learning institution, one linked to education and two workplace-related clusters.