KJ: We're facing new 'low, long' Omicron sub-variant wave

Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said Malaysia is currently facing a new “low, long” wave of the Covid-19 Omicron BA.5 sub-variant with cases rising steadily but slowly in recent weeks.

The BA.5 variant is a sublineage of the Omicron variant and is more infectious than other Omicron sub-variants with higher resistance to antibodies created by vaccines.

“In certain countries, their Omicron BA.5 wave was big, but In Malaysia, our wave is small but long-lasting.

“(Our numbers) do not shoot up suddenly, they go up incrementally and then stay at that new level. So this is a new, low, long wave that we are going through,” Khairy said after attending an event at the National Institute of Health in Shah Alam today.

Covid-19 cases in the country have been hovering between 1,000 to 3,000 cases up until sometime around July when the numbers increased to over 5,000 cases.

The average number of cases in the past seven days is 4,021 cases.

Under-reporting issue

Khairy also acknowledged the issue of under-reporting of new Covid-19 cases but clarified that his ministry has shifted from using the number of daily cases to looking at the severity of the cases and deaths to gauge how well the pandemic is being managed.

Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin

“Of course, wherever it is, not just in Malaysia, the number of cases being reported is fewer than the actual situation because our protocol for testing has been loosened,” he said.

Many people are testing using the rapid test kits (RTK) now instead of the RT-PCR which has a higher rate of accuracy but the results take longer, he noted.

There are also many people who tested for Covid-19 using the self-test kits but did not report their positive status to MySejahtera, he added.

“In such a situation, we are using proxy indicators. We do not pay so much attention to the number of cases, we look at the severity of the cases, deaths and hospitalisations.

“As long as the rates of those (indicators) remain under control, that means we are handling (the pandemic) well,” he said.

The minister also urged the public to report the results of their self-test to MySejahtera, especially if they tested positive, in order to facilitate the Health Ministry’s efforts at keeping track of cases within the community.

He pointed out that it is required by law for those who tested positive to report to MySejahtera so they can be issued a home surveillance order and quarantine at home.

“This is by law, but there are those who are positive and still go out.

“However, we have reached a level where we want to manage to live with Covid-19 so we cannot force people.

“We can only urge and implore for the rakyat to continue reporting their tests on MySejahtera,” Khairy said, adding that he tests himself three times a week and consistently reports the results on the application. - Mkini