KUCHING: It is important for people to understand some essential health information to be able to manage and go about their daily lives with as little disruption as possible with the emergence of the Covid-19 Omicron variant, said Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian.
Commenting on reports that seven local Omicron cases had been recorded in Sarawak as of Jan 6, he cautioned that this was not just the beginning of Omicron spread within the local community but an Omicron surge due to the extremely infectious nature of the variant.
“Not just another seven cases of Omicron (unfortunately imported by family members from West Malaysia and overseas) confirmed by genetic sequencing but another more than 30 cases of presumptive Omicron cases – detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests within hours through Sarawak government funding but needs time-consuming genetic sequencing by Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS),” he said.
He said the Omicron variant was much more infectious than the Delta variant but less severe.
“It is understood from local medical experts that those with symptomatic Omicron infection typically have fever, cough, sore throat, lethargy, and myalgia (muscle plain), but one prominent difference from Delta is that there is no loss of taste or smell,” he said in a Facebook post on Saturday (Jan 8).
At the same time, the Public Health, Housing and Local Government Minister advised those infected not to panic.
Elaborating on essential health information, he explained that all viruses, not only Covid-19, change over time, with most changes having little to no impact on the virus’ properties.
However, he said at times some of the changes might affect how easily a virus could spread or make a person sick, or how well vaccines, medicines, laboratory tests, or other control measures would work in mitigating an epidemic.
“Hence, it is not surprising to see that numerous Covid-19 virus variants have been reported worldwide since 2020. However, only Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Omicron variants are considered important (hence better known) because they possess some changes that have affected at least one of the properties outlined earlier,” said Dr Sim.
He stressed that the most important thing to remember is that all these variants were still the Covid-19 virus which spreads through contaminated aerosols released into the air when an infected person – who may not exhibit symptoms – breathes, talks, eats, sings or laughs.
“Knowing that Covid-19 is an airborne infection, we can protect ourselves from the infection by making sure we only breathe in clean air. This is exactly the same basis that we only drink clean boiled water to avoid getting diarrheal illness.
“Take note that cholera, a waterborne bowel infection, is no longer a major health problem nowadays because we have clean safe water supply. Likewise, we could control Covid-19 by ensuring we have clean safe air,” he said.
He pointed out that the best way to do so was by ensuring indoor spaces were well ventilated. If this is not feasible, he suggested that people consider installing an air purifier.
He also mentioned other precautions such as avoiding crowded public places, properly using only high-quality masks which can effectively filter out the Covid-19 virus (N95, KN95, KF94 masks), and taking Antigen Rapid Test Kit (RTK-Ag) tests regularly and especially before attending social gatherings.
“Disregard negative RTK-Ag test results as long as you are symptomatic, no matter how mild your symptoms are.
“Remember that symptoms of Omicron variant infection could be as mild as runny nose, blocked nose, sneezing, sore throat, itchy throat, dry cough, or just feeling tired. If you have these symptoms, assume you have Omicron variant infection,” said Dr Sim.
He called on people to stay home and isolate themselves if they are unwell, no matter how mild their illness might be.
He also urged the public to take the Covid-19 vaccine and booster, adding, “A mix-and-match regime (except three doses of Pfizer) is the best vaccine regime that will help us sail through the Covid-19 pandemic storm.
