Eight more Covid-19 cases of South African variant

Eight more Covid-19 cases of South African variant

There are now a total of 17 cases associated with the variant, all of which are from Selangor.

The cases for the B.1.351 variant were detected from clusters in Selangor as well as through close contact screenings.
PETALING JAYA:
The health ministry has detected another eight Covid-19 cases associated with the B.1.351 variant, the highly contagious strain first found in South Africa.

In a statement, health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said there were now a total of 17 cases involving B.1.351 in Malaysia.

Of the total, nine infections came from the Kebun Baru cluster, three were from the Jalan Lima cluster, and another one from the Teknologi Emas cluster. All three clusters are in Selangor.

The remaining four cases associated with the variant were detected through close contact screenings.

“Phylogenetic analysis and geographical correlations indicate that these cases all likely came from the same source of infection,” said Noor Hisham.

He added that two cases linked to the UK B.1.1.7 variant were also detected through screenings at international borders on Feb 3. Two more cases infected with the Nigerian B.1.525 variant were also reported on March 5.

Meanwhile, Noor Hisham said to date, the health ministry had found several other variants in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Kelantan, Penang, Johor, Kedah, Labuan, Sabah and Sarawak.

This includes the B.1.524, B.1.466.2 and B.1.1.63 variants.

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