Omicron variant reaches Malaysia 

Kuala Lumpur: The Malaysian health ministry Friday announced that the newly detected variant of coronavirus ‘Omicron’ has already entered the country and may have begun spreading locally.

As per details, the variant was detected in old samples of COVID-positive tests that were taken between November 11 and 28, ahead of its official naming by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The Omicron-infected person was a 19-year-old vaccinated undergraduate and reportedly had flown in from South Africa on November 19, transiting through Singapore. 

The infected teen has already been released from quarantine in Malaysia.  

“The person has undergone quarantine for ten days until November 29,” the Rembau Member of Parliament said.

He noted that the patient was asymptomatic and had tested negative for COVID-19 upon quarantine release. 

“We have to accept the possibilities that the Omicron variant is already in Malaysia,” he added.

Reports quoting sources said that the old samples of COVID-19 positive patients were recently sent for genomic sequencing in light of Omicron fears.  

Moreover, the heavily mutated omicron coronavirus variant has now been found in over two dozen countries and the WHO says that although there's still much to be learned about the new strain, there's no indication that existing COVID-19 vaccines won't continue to save lives.