Omicron in Malaysia: Dr Noor Hisham says not enough known yet but don’t panic, follow existing public health rules
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 3 — With the Omicron variant of concern finally reaching Malaysia, many may be losing their heads over the latest mutation of the Covid-19 disease.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah today advised Malaysians not to panic and just continue observing the current public health (PH) protocols as there is very little known about this variant.
“The simple truth is we don’t know enough yet about Omicron. We should not panic & over react, but continue to take all the PH precautionary measures, get vaccinated & self testing.
“Today I believe we have put in place a robust PH system in our preparedness & response. InshaAllah,” he tweeted.
Earlier today, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin announced Malaysia’s index case of Omicron in the country.
He said the index case was a 19-year-old foreign student at a private university in Ipoh, Perak who had transited in Singapore and flown in to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport from South Africa on November 19.
Khairy added that the index case had been fully vaccinated prior to her travel and passed all pre-departure Covid-19 testing and has not shown any symptoms of the disease upon arrival.
However, she was shown to be positive after a series of tests, including laboratory ones subsequently and served the 10-day required quarantine period and has since been released though health officials have called her back for further checks just to be extra sure.
Khairy gave an assurance that current regulations and strict adherence to Covid-19 SOPs are sufficient to deal with variants of concern, including Omicron.
“For Omicron, what this tells us is that the system works.
“We can capture it and if everyone sticks to the rules, we can contain it, but we all have to accept the possibility of Omicron cases here in Malaysia as there are in other countries as well,’’ he told a news conference this afternoon.
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