Photo of laboratory research for illustration purposes only.
KUCHING (Sept 3): Sarawak has been able to detected Covid-19 Delta variant cases in the State because of its world-renowned Institute of Health and Community Medicine (IHCM) at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas), said Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian.
The State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) advisor explained this is why Sarawak managed to sequence 178 samples of the variant from Covid-19 cases between Aug 16 and 29.
“The more you look, the more you find,” he said in a Facebook post, which explained that the figure did not mean that the State had the most Delta variant cases in the country.
According to Dr Sim, IHCM is one of only a handful of laboratories in Malaysia capable of genomics studies.
He pointed out IHCM director Prof Dr David Perera had taken his own initiative to study the Delta variant without waiting for any instructions from the Federal government.
IHCM was founded in 1995 by Prof Dr Jane Cardosa and has been involved in researching many disease outbreaks in Sarawak.
Dr Sim said the State identifying a high number of Delta variant cases is similar to the high number of daily Covid-19 cases being reported in Sarawak.
He explained that up to 20,000 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests out of the 100,000 nationwide were conducted in Sarawak, resulting in more cases being reported.
“Thanks to the public coming forward to get tested and the State Health Department stepping up,” he said, adding the tests were being subsidised by the State government.
The Local Government and Housing Minister also reiterated that other parts of the country were in the mitigation stage where they only conducted swab tests on those who are symptomatic.
According to a Health Ministry statement on Aug 31, from 265 Covid-19 Delta variant samples sequenced between Aug 16 and 29, Sarawak led the list with 178 cases, followed by Penang (31) and Pahang (19).
Institutions involved in the research were the Institute of Medical Research (IMR), UiTM Selangor Integrative Pharmacogenomics Institute (iPromise), and Unimas IHCM.