RT-PCR test is not the same method used to test for the Delta variant, Prof Dr David Perera explained. — AFP file photo
KUCHING (July 13): It takes up to four weeks to complete the tests of Covid-19 Delta variant, said Universiti Malaysia Sarawak’s (Unimas) Institute of Health and Community Medicine director Prof Dr David Perera.
“It’s very sophisticated technology. It’s not like a RT-PCR test. From the beginning to the end, it typically takes up to three to four weeks to sequence 24 to 48 genomes,” he told The Borneo Post today.
And because of the urgency of the matter following the detection of 17 Delta variant cases in Kuching alone thus far, David said he and his team has to work harder and faster towards containing it.
“We work on overdrive to half this turnaround time. We sometimes sleep in the lab for overnight work,” he said.
Through a press statement earlier on David said the institute has been tracking the SARS-COV-2 variants circulating in the state and had detected 17 cases up to July 4.
However the first case involving a 56-year-old man was detected on June 18.
“As part of this ongoing surveillance, I would like to report that as of July 4, an additional 16 cases of the Delta variant were detected in Kuching,” he pointed out.
His latest report was forwarded to the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas today.