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Five more Omicron BA.5 variant cases detected in Malaysia

Malaysian Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin on July 8 said five cases of the COVID-19 Omicron BA.5 variant have been detected in the country and are likely to spread widely.
Five more Omicron BA.5 variant cases detected in Malaysia ảnh 1Medics take sample for COVID-19 test from a man in Selangor, Malaysia in July last year. (Photo: VNA/Xinhua)
Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – Malaysian Health MinisterKhairy Jamaluddin on July 8 said five cases of the COVID-19 Omicron BA.5variant have been detected in the country and are likely to spread widely.

He said a total of 13cumulative cases of Omicron sub-lineage variants have been detected in Malaysia, including six cases of BA.2.12.1 and two BA.5.2.

All these cases weredetected between May and June, he told reporters. However, there are no casesof sublineage Omicron BA.4 recorded so far, he added.

The Malaysian Ministry ofHealth is expecting that new infections will increase due to the Omicron BA.4and BA.5, especially the BA.5. This is because Omicron BA.5 spread easilycompared with previous Omicron variants, namely BA.1 and BA.2, he noted.

According to Jamaluddin, over110 countries had reported a spike in COVID-19 cases linked to the BA.4 andBA.5 sub-variants.

Apart from Malaysia, hesaid that neighbouring countries such as Singapore and Indonesia wereexperiencing a surge in daily cases.

The BA.4 and BA.5sub-variants have become the dominant coronavirus strains in a number ofcountries abroad.

According to reports, thestrains were first detected in South Africa earlier this year./.
VNA
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