Photo of test tube and the Covid-19 virus for illustration purposes only.
KUCHING (July 14): Universiti Malaysia Sarawak’s (Unimas) Institute of Health and Community Medicine depends on the state Health Department and private hospitals to provide Covid-19 samples to test for variants such as Delta or Beta.
Director Prof Dr David Perera said at the moment it is unclear if samples are from all over Sarawak or selected randomly by the Health Department and private hospitals.
“We depend on the Sarawak Health Department and private hospitals or testing labs to send us samples for sequencing.
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“There are no metric measurements for how ‘deadly’ a variant is. Both Delta and Beta are designated as variants of concern (VOC) because they harbour specific mutations that impact virus transmissibility and infectivity,” he told The Borneo Post.
He pointed out this could be seen by how the Delta variant has outpaced other variants in the United Kingdom and United States, where both countries have achieved a high vaccination percentage of their adult populations.
The Delta variant was first detected in India, while the Beta variant was first found in South Africa.
On Monday, Perera explained that it takes up to four weeks to complete tests for the Delta variant.
The institute has been tasked by the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) to track Covid-19 variants circulating in the state.
Up to July 4, a total of 17 Delta variant cases have been recorded in Kuching alone, with the first case detected on June 18.
As for the Beta variant, 45 cases have been detected in the southern and central regions of Sarawak
Six Theta variant cases, first detected in the Philippines, have been detected in Kuching and seven in Kota Samarahan, while one Eta variant case, first detected in the United Kingdom, has been found in the state.
In total, 76 VOC and Variant of Interest (VOI) cases have been detected in Sarawak among Covid-19 positive cases up to July 4.