KUCHING: Another 180 new cases of Delta variant (B.1.617.2) have been detected in Sarawak from 355 positive Covid-19 cases sequenced.
Prof Dr David Perera of the Institute of Health and Community Medicine (IHCM) Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) said they were detected as of July 27 in IHCM’s ongoing tracking and surveillance of SARS-COV-2 variants.
He disclosed this in his latest report to Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, who is also Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman, on Tuesday (Aug 3).
He said Delta variant cases were detected in Kuching, Bau, Lundu, Kota Samarahan, Simunjan, Sri Aman, Miri and Bintulu.
“In Kuching Division, we have 124 cases, eight in Lundu and five in Bau.
“This represents a Delta variant detection rate of 65 per cent (137 of Covid-19 samples sequenced).”
In addition to the Delta variant, Dr Perera said as of July 27 too, there were seven cases of the recently described Indonesian Variant of Concern (B.1.466.2) and two cases of the Beta variant (B.1.351).
He said the Beta variant was detected in Kuching with two cases while the Indonesian Variant of Concern (VOC) was detected in Kuching with four cases, two in Sibu and one in Bintulu.
“As such, an accumulative total of 343 VOC / Variant Of Interest (VOI) had been detected in Sarawak from Covid-19 positive cases.”
