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KOTA KINABALU: Sabah's Covid-19 Spokesperson Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun confirmed the State is still free from the B.1.617.1 double mutation strain from India.He said this when asked about a viral message saying “Just received confirmed news that KK (Kota Kinabalu) already encountered the first case of the Indian Covid-19 variant. Please be alert.”

Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah had said 56 cases of variants of concern (VOC) had been reported in the country as well as three variants of interest, including the B.1.617.1 double mutation strain from India.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) had earlier this week said that the Covid-19 variant, first identified in India last year, was being classified as a variant of global concern, with some preliminary studies showing that it spreads more easily.

The Government has imposed a temporary ban on flights to and from India to prevent the spread of the new variant, starting April 28.

Following that, the State Government also placed a similar restriction on anyone travelling into the State from India, France, the US, Brazil, and the African continent, followed by travellers from Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka to prevent virus variants from entering Sabah.