No cases of Omicron XE in Malaysia so far, says Khairy
He says his ministry is looking into the latest mutation of the Omicron variant to determine its infectivity rate and severity.
Malaysia has yet to record any cases of the Omicron XE variant, a new mutation which is considered the most contagious yet, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said today.
He said the ministry was following the developments and studying the characteristics of the variant which has been reported in other countries including Thailand in order to identify its infectivity rate and danger to patients.
“The Omicron variants, for example, have higher number of cases than Delta but their severity is about average compared to Delta, hence the ICUs are not full like before.
“We need to look into this new variant that is occurring in other countries, whether its infectivity rate or severity is high, then only can we take the appropriate measures,” he said at a news conference after visiting Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun in Ipoh today.
The World Health Organization in its latest reports said that Omicron XE was a recombinant strain, a mutant hybrid of Omicron BA.1 and BA.2.
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