PUTRAJAYA: The health ministry today said that 10 Malaysians who tested positive for the Covid-19 Omicron variant after returning to the country did not have any vaccination record.
Health minister Khairy Jamaluddin revealed that the 10 were out of 17 Omicron cases who were found to have not been vaccinated, with the other seven being foreigners.
He said an investigation has been opened to determine how these 10 Malaysians were allowed to travel overseas without getting vaccinated.
“Based on the health ministry’s initial investigation, it was found that out of the 122 people who were found to have the Omicron variant in the country as of yesterday, 17 of them had not been vaccinated.
“We will discuss this with stakeholders, including travel agencies, regarding compliance and the conditions that have been set,” he said at a press conference today.
He said the ministry is investigating whether the 17 Omicron cases had any underlying health concerns.
Meanwhile, Khairy also announced that the number of Omicron cases in the country has now increased to 245, after 123 new cases were reported today.
Of the 123 cases, 116 were detected among overseas travellers by the Institute for Medical Research (IMR). The other seven were due to local transmissions, as confirmed by Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas).
The first local transmission of an Omicron case was detected in Kuching last month. Earlier this week, another four local transmissions of the Omicron variant were reported by the health ministry.
“Of the 245 Omicron cases, 233 are imported cases and 12 are local transmissions. Of the total Omicron variant cases reported, a total of 157 cases, or 64%, were umrah pilgrims.
“The health ministry would like to remind individuals who are instructed to undergo mandatory quarantine, to comply with the SOPs such as staying in separate rooms and not meeting with members of the household or other individuals,” he said.
Khairy added that failure to comply with these instructions would result in the spread of Covid-19, including the Omicron variant, to family members and the community.
“The health ministry also recommends that individuals who are eligible to receive the Covid-19 vaccine should obtain their booster dose to achieve an optimal level of protection,” he said.
