PETALING JAYA: From Australia to Zambia, the Omicron Covid-19 variant has been detected in a minimum of 60 nations and areas worldwide thus far, with greater than 20 reporting local group transmissions.
An evaluation of information stories on the affected nations reveals the fast spread of Omicron inside the brief span of simply two weeks of the variant being categorised as a variant of concern by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Nov 26.
On Dec 7, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Rochelle Walensky mentioned greater than 50 nations have detected the variant since its discovery in South Africa final month.
Malaysia has additionally not been spared with the nation’s first case reported on Dec 2, involving a 19-year-old South African non-public college scholar in Ipoh who arrived from South Africa via Singapore on Nov 19.
The following are some of the key data factors about the variant, its spread and the recommendation of local specialists on how Malaysia can greatest handle the spread of the variant.
The new B.1.1.529 pressure of the coronavirus, first detected in South Africa on Nov 9, was categorised a variant of concern (VOC) by the World Health Organisation on Nov 26.
Health specialists cautioned that the variant may have already spread to many nations and its local group, together with Malaysia, earlier than South Africa first reported the variant to WHO on Nov 24.
“As announced by the Health Ministry, the first imported case of the Omicron variant was someone who entered Malaysia on Nov 19, so there is always the possibility that more cases caused by the Omicron variant may have entered Malaysia before Nov 24,” mentioned Universiti Malaya (UM) epidemiologist Prof Datuk Dr Awang Bulgiba Awang Mahmud.
“It is clear however, that the number of cases caused by the Omicron variant in the community in the United Kingdom is increasing rapidly,” he mentioned.
Britain first reported the Omicron variant on Nov 27 from two people with a historical past of journey to southern Africa.
The nation now has 568 Omicron instances in a number of areas, with a number of individuals having no hyperlinks to worldwide journey.
Denmark has additionally seen a pointy enhance in Omicron variant in the group with a complete of 577 instances, whereas South Africa has 429 instances based on an open-source tracker by Newsnodes and BNO News.
Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) president Dr Koh Kar Chai mentioned the Omicron variant with its excessive transmissibility may quickly develop into the world’s dominant variant.
With Omicron already being detected in the nation, Dr Koh mentioned it’s doubtless the variant will spread in the group.
“Scientists are now trying to determine how effective vaccines are against the variant.
“If the vaccines offer a high level of protection, we should be in a good position against the variant as we have achieved a high vaccination rate,” he mentioned.
Dr Koh urged individuals to get the most safety obtainable towards Covid-19.
“Our elderly should get their booster shots if they are eligible and the general population will need to consistently adhere to the prescribed standard operating procedure (SOP),” he mentioned.
On Dec 8, Dr Mike Ryan, government director of WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme, mentioned present vaccines can shield these contaminated with the Omicron variant from extreme Covid-19 instances, following South Africa’s first lab check on the variant.
Universiti Putra Malaysia medical epidemiologist Assoc Prof Dr Malina Osman mentioned the extent of Omicron’s transmission worldwide will depend upon journey patterns in addition to nations’ rules on worldwide border closure.
“If during this period, strict travelling regulation and screenings are followed, I guess the extension of spread may be confined to certain high-risk areas,” she mentioned.
Dr Malina mentioned she believes the spread of the Omicron variant into the group can nonetheless be contained via strict adherence to the SOP and steady monitoring of the nation’s worldwide entry factors.
To higher perceive the traits of the variant, UM’s Dr Awang Bulgiba mentioned it can be crucial for nations to conduct genomic surveillance, coupled with epidemiological evaluation.
He mentioned a fast option to determine the Omicron variant is thru an RT-PCR check by American firm Thermo Fisher, which might present an S gene dropout or S gene goal failure (SGTF), which has been used to determine the Alpha variant.
“Previously this was a quick way of identifying the Alpha variant but as the Alpha variant has been almost completely displaced by the Delta variant, the SGTF can be used to make presumptive identification of the Omicron variant,” he mentioned, including that the samples can then be prioritised and despatched for genome sequencing for affirmation.
Dr Awang Bulgiba added that vaccination and non-pharmaceutical interventions stay essential in defending ourselves towards Covid-19.
