Umrah pilgrim becomes first Omicron case in Sabah

 

A local man who returned to the country on Dec 19 after performing umrah has become the first case of the Omicron Covid-19 variant to be detected in Sabah, said state Local Government and Housing Minister Masidi Manjun.

The Sabah Covid-19 spokesperson said the man and his wife performed umrah from Dec 9 to 18 and returned to Malaysia on Dec 19 via the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

Masidi (above) said the patient and his wife arrived in Tawau on Dec 20 and were ordered to undergo quarantine at home but the 'whole genome sequencing' test result on Jan 4 showed the patient was positive for the Omicron variant.

"While being confirmed positive for Covid-19 earlier, the husband was placed in Category 2 while the wife was in Category 1. Both completed their quarantine on Jan 1 and had recovered from the virus infection. (Note: the patient recovered from the infection before it was confirmed to be of the Omicron variant on Jan 4).

“The patient’s wife who was also undergoing quarantine at the same time as the husband, was found positive for Covid-19 on Dec 24, 2021, while her whole genome sequencing test is still in progress,” Masidi said in a statement today.

He added that the couple had completed their Covid-19 vaccination in June last year and both are in good health.

Commenting on Covid-19 cases in Sabah, Masidi said the state recorded 280 cases today compared to 258 yesterday.

- Bernama