AS the Omicron variant starts travelling around the world, a health expert is calling for tighter border controls to prevent the new strain from gaining a foothold in Malaysia.

According to a recent study by Japanese scientist Hiroshi Nishiura, a professor of health and environmental sciences at Kyoto University and advisor to Japan’s Health Ministry, the Omicron variant is likely to be four times more transmissible than the Delta variant.

Former deputy health minister Dr Lee Boon Chye said the Health Ministry has assured that it is unlikely this variant will have wide community spread in Malaysia.

But border controls, which are being gradually eased as the country re-opens, must be tightened, especially against illegal entries, he added.

“We have communicated with the Health Ministry. At this juncture, we need to strengthen border control and improve community screening. If there is an infection in the community, it could get out of control,” Lee told The Malaysian Insight.

He added that, for now, there was no need for the public to panic over Omicron.

The variant is currently circulating in Europe, Africa, Australia and other countries. However, if an outbreak takes place in neighbouring countries, such as the Philippines, Indonesia, and Thailand, then it could spread into the community here, particularly if border controls against illegal entries are not tightened.

Malaysia shares a porous border with Indonesia’s Kalimantan state on Borneo, with southern Thailand on the peninsula, and by sea in Sabah with islands in the southern Philippines.

The Omicron variant was recently detected in Malaysia in a 19-year-old South African, a student at a private university who entered peninsula Malaysia from Singapore. The infection was quickly contained.

Malaysia currently has a ban in place on travellers entering from eight African countries.

Lee commended the Health Ministry for acting swiftly and proactively by isolating the student and tracing and testing the person’s close contacts, and isolating them as well.

Malaysia currently has a quarantine-free travel arrangement with Singapore, the vaccinated travel lane (VTL) programme for both air and land travel, and was planning to embark on a similar arrangement with Indonesia next, but has put this on hold due to the Omicron variant.

The National Recovery Council had also proposed for the country’s borders to be reopened to foreign visitors on January 1, 2022, so as to expedite economic recovery, especially for the tourism sector.

Lee feels that much will depend on the Omicron outbreak. He also stressed that Malaysia must complete administering the booster shots to Covid-19 vaccine recipients who have already received their first two doses.

He said the Health Ministry should allow those who had Sinovac as their first two doses to also receive the same vaccine as their booster shot instead of forcing a Pfizer booster on them.

“It (Sinovac) should be made available as a booster option,” Dr Lee said.

Targeted approach

Sunway University’s Dean of the School of Medical and Life Sciences Dr Abhi Veerakumarasivam is against more travel bans despite concerns about Omicron.

“The fact is, Omicron has already spread to so many countries, making us question the validity of targeted bans from certain countries.

“A more targeted approach, i.e., a precision public health approach that focuses on the right intervention at the right time, every time, to the right population – guided by robust evidence and data – is essential,” Abhi said.

Total closures of borders and a reimposition of the movement-control order will not be sustainable, the professor of genetics added, especially since a majority of the population have been vaccinated and it is only such individuals who are allowed to travel internationally.

He also thinks travel bans targeting certain countries could have a negative effect by discouraging the sharing of data on the virus.

“The way in which countries around the world have imposed travel bans to a number of countries in Africa after the first reports of the Omicron variant, will certainly discourage more countries from investing in more genomic surveillance and open sharing of information regarding variants of concern in the future,” he said.

The recent move to support more stringent and targeted testing, quarantine and monitoring of travellers, is the right strategy moving forward, he added.

Immunopathologist Dr Sibrandes Poppema said the testing and quarantine procedures for inbound travellers, which are currently in place are working well, as seen by the swift action taken on the Omicron case that was detected.

“The positive case was fully vaccinated and was identified by testing and sequencing and was put in quarantine, so the risk of transmission is minimal,” said the Sunway University president.

However, he added that we “don’t know what we don’t know” and it will not be possible to completely seal off Malaysia from the new variant.

“But we must limit the effects,” he added. – December 14, 2021.