KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (July 1): Between June 23 and June 30, the Ministry of Health (MoH) identified 28 new variant cases of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which produces Covid-19. According to Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, 25 cases have been categorised as Variant of Concern (VOC), while three others have been classified as Variant of Interest (VOI).
These included 18 Delta variants (B.1.617.2), five Beta variants (B.1.351), three Kappa variants (B.1.617.1), and two Alpha variants (B.1.617.1) (B.1.1.7).
Pahang, Kuala Lumpur, Sabah, Melaka, Labuan, Negeri Sembilan, Johor, Kedah, Terengganu, and Selangor were among the states where they were discovered.
The VOC category is defined by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a variant with evidence of increased transmissibility, more severe disease, significant reduction in neutralization by antibodies generated during previous infection or vaccination, decreased effectiveness of treatments or vaccines, or diagnostic detection failures.
The CDC defines the VOI category as a variant with specific genetic markers linked to changes in receptor binding, decreased neutralization by antibodies generated against previous infection or vaccination, reduced treatment efficacy, potential diagnostic impact, or a predicted increase in transmissibility or disease severity.
To far, Malaysia has had 217 SARS-CoV-2 cases classified as VOC or VOI, including 198 VOC cases and 19 VOI cases.
Despite one month of the Full Movement Control Order (FMCO), Covid-19 instances in Malaysia are on the rise again, with 6,988 new cases reported today, up from 6,276 earlier. This is the third day in a row that the number of new cases has surpassed 6,000.
The 6,988 confirmed infections today reflected a 7.9% positivity rate out of 88,450 persons tested in the last 24 hours across the country.
The total number of confirmed illnesses in the country was 758,967./n
