Of Sarawak’s 36 cases of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 detected to date, eight were made in the tail end of the year to January 11, Dr David Perera said

In his latest report to the state disaster management committee on his work, the director of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak’s Institute of Health and Community Medicine said of the eight cases detected in tests in the 42 days between December and January 11, seven were imported and one still under investigation as the individual has no history of recent travel.

Perera and his team of virologists detected them from the 262 samples they analysed at the Unimas lab in Samarahan.

The 36 Omicron cases were detected in four of the state’s 12 administrative divisions – Kuching, Samarahan, Sibu and Kapit.

The Delta variant remained the dominant circulating variant with 212 cases detected in December and six this month, Perera said in the report, which was handed in to the chairman of the disaster committee and deputy chief minister, Douglas Uggah, today.

In a caution ahead of the Chinese New Year, he said since Omicron is highly transmissible, Sarawak folk need to be “extremely cautious” during the festivities.

A majority of Sarawak’s Omicron cases involved community transmission, he said.

“As such, people are urged to be extremely cautious in the coming Chinese New Year period,” he said.

“The public health standard operating procedures need to be strictly adhered to. If possible, community gatherings should be avoided to prevent further community spread.” – January 15, 2022.