Malaysia Confirms Two Cases Of The Delta Plus Variant

The Ministry of Health on Saturday (November 6th) confirmed the first two cases of the COVID-19 subvariant, Delta AY.4.2, or also known as the Delta Plus.

The two cases involved imported cases of Malaysian students returning from the United Kingdom.

In a statement, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr. Noor Hisham Abdullah said the cases were detected when the individuals arrived at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) on October 2nd.

Both individuals underwent the RT-PCR test and initially tested negative before being confirmed positive after a second test was conducted on October 7th during their quarantine period.

“This sample has undergone full genome sequencing at the Institute of Medical Molecular Biology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UMBI-UKM) and the result was released on October 30th,” he said.

According to BERNAMA, DG Hisham added that the AY.4 variant is among the 75 types of lineages originating from the Delta variant and among the sublineages of AY.4.2 variant which is also known as Delta Plus. 

He also assured the public that the vaccine used now is still effective against this variant and measures such as quarantine, testing and so on can help reduce the risk of transmission of this variant in Malaysia, especially at the country’s international gateways. 

Oh no! Please stay safe everyone, especially if you’re travelling!

Remember to always abide by the SOPs, wear a face mask and maintain physical distancing when you’re in public places.

By: Aishah Akashah Ahadiat