Delta variant among reasons for spike in cases, says Noor Hisham

The Delta variant of Covid-19, which has been detected in almost every state, is believed to be among the reasons for the sharp increase in cases in the country, says health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

He said the Delta variant spreads quickly and infections can occur within a short time through airborne transmission.

“The Delta variant spreads quickly, at the onset of infection, the R-naught (R0) is 5.8, meaning if 100 are infected, it can spread to 800 (people) in a short period of time,” he said at a special press conference yesterday.

It was also attended by Health Minister Dr Adham Baba, health deputy director-general (public health) Dr Chong Chee Keong and health ministry secretary-general Mohd Shafiq Abdullah.

But Noor Hisham said the vaccines used in the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) had proven effective against the Delta variant.

“In the case of 2,779 (vaccinated) health workers infected (with Covid-19), there were also Delta and Beta variants but the majority of them were in Categories One and Two (of the severity of the disease).

“This is good news, meaning the vaccines we are using today are still effective, even for the Delta variant in the country. The only difference is the Delta variant spreads quickly,” he said.