THE Health Ministry will accelerate booster shot administration and increase its genomic surveillance to protect the public, said Khairy Jamaluddin, following the emergence of the new Omicron variant of Covid-19.

The health minister said these are additional measures taken by the ministry, other than temporarily barring the entry of all foreign nationals with a travel history to seven African nations.

“Other than restricting entry of travellers from several countries, the Health Ministry will also increase its genomic surveillance and speed up booster doses under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme,” he tweeted today.

“The public are advised to wear face masks, avoid crowded places and practise TRIIS (test, report, isolate, inform, seek).”

He added that there is no Omicron case detected in Malaysia, so far.

Khairy had earlier this week said Malaysia will temporarily bar the entry of all foreign nationals who had visited Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe in the past 14 days.

He said Malaysian citizens, permanent residents and long-term pass holders will be allowed to return and enter the country. However, they will need to undergo mandatory 14-day isolation at designated quarantine centres regardless of their vaccination status.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the Omicron variant, first detected in southern Africa, as a variant of concern.

The classification puts the strain into the most-troubling category of Covid-19 variants, along with the globally dominant Delta, as well as its weaker rivals Alpha, Beta and Gamma.

Nations rushed to ban flights to slow the spread of Omicron yesterday, while oil prices and stock markets plunged on fears surrounding the variant, potentially dealing a heavy blow to the global economic recovery.

So far, three countries have reported cases related to the new variant, namely South Africa with 77 cases, Botswana (4) and Hong Kong (2). – November 27, 2021.