Second Omicron Case Detected In M’sia In Traveller From Nigeria

Second Omicron Covid-19 case in Malaysia

It wasn’t too long ago when Malaysia reported its first dreaded Omicron Covid-19 case in a traveller from South Africa. On 16th December 2021, the Health Ministry confirmed a second Omicron case in the country involving an 8-year-old Malaysian returning from Nigeria.

The variant was detected in the young traveller on 14th December, bringing the total of Omicron cases in the country to two with 18 more suspected cases awaiting confirmation of variant type.

New Omicron case detected in 8-year-old traveller

The second Omicron Covid-19 variant case was revealed by Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia (KKM) via an official press statement on Thursday, 16th December.

According to the lengthy statement, the case was detected in a 8-year-old Malaysian girl staying with her family in Lagos, Nigeria. She had undergone RT-PCR screening and tested negative before embarking on her return trip to Malaysia.

Page 1 of KKM’s statement
Image credit: @KKMPutrajaya

She later transited in Doha, Qatar and arrived in Malaysia on 5th December 2021 with her mother and sibling. The trio underwent another RT-PCR test upon arrival in KLIA, and were given home quarantine orders.

However, on 7th December the 8-year-old traveller tested positive for Covid-19 and was asymptomatic. She was ordered to isolate at home for 14 days, with her close contacts comprising her mother, sister, father and taxi driver.

The statement also said that her mother and sibling both tested negative for Covid-19 in four separate tests spanning from their departure date to 11 days after. Likewise, the young traveller’s father tested negative after arriving in Malaysia on 12th December while the taxi driver is awaiting their result.

35 other close contacts have been identified who were on the same flight as the 8-year-old girl, consisting of passengers in the rows around her.

Page 3 of KKM’s statement
Image credit: @KKMPutrajaya

In the same statement, KKM also identified 18 more suspected Omicron cases in Malaysia based on the first line of screening. A second line of screening involving whole genome sequencing will confirm the tests, with results expected by Friday, 17th December.

Image credit: @Khairykj

Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin also shared in a live press conference on Thursday (Dec 16) that large gatherings and celebrations for Christmas or New Year’s are not allowed as of now.

But private gatherings will be permitted among members of different households, as long as all guests have undergone Covid-19 self tests with negative results.

New SOPs for travellers from UK
Image credit: @KKMPutrajaya

Travellers from UK will now be required to self-test daily during their mandatory quarantine duration too, as shared by the Health Minister in the press conference and on his verified Twitter account.

Second Omicron Covid-19 case in Malaysia

It’s concerning to hear that another Omicron case has been reported in the country, especially since the variant is reported by Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah to “show increase transmissibility and unclear outcomes for hospitalisation”.

As such, we must continue to do our parts in following Covid-19 safety measures and getting our booster vaccines as recommended to protect ourselves against the virus and its variants.