KUCHING: The people have been advised to remain vigilant and protect themselves against COVID-19.
Parliamentary Special Select Committee (PSSC) on Health, Science and Innovation chairman Dr Kelvin Yii Lee Wuen said the surge of the virus caused by the highly transmissible Omicron subvariant known as BA.5 had fuelled a new wave of infections, re-infections, and hospitalisation across the county.
“Omicron BA.5 is the most easily spread version of the COVID-19 virus to date, in comparison with the previous Omicron variants namely BA.1 and BA.2.
“On top of that BA.5 is particularly good at evading the immune protection afforded either by vaccination or prior infection,” he said.
He also explained this was was the reason why many people were getting reinfected, often even after a short time after having COVID-19.
“According to the cumulative data from the Ministry of Health (MOH), COVID reinfections during the Omicron wave are 6.3 times higher compared to reinfected cases reported during the Delta wave.
“The Omicron wave has seen a total of 14,630 COVID reinfections versus 2,295 reinfected cases during the Delta wave, as of July 6,” he added.
He pointed out that this variant was the dominant sub-variant in the country already due to its infectivity.
“In our country alone, new daily numbers reported for epidemiological week 27 (July 3 to 7) recorded an increase of 31 per cent from 11,394 to 14,967 cases, compared with the number of cases reported for the same period in epidemiological week 26 (June 26 to 30).
“This number is expected to increase and possibly peak in about two to three months,” Dr Yii said.
He then pointed out that the numbers did not yet paint the full picture due to the limited genomic sequencing not showing true distributions of the sub variant in the country and there was a blind spot as people generally tested less now as they got used to life in the endemic.
“That being said, if not taken seriously, rapidly-spreading BA.5 variants could result in an increase in hospital admissions as seen in Singapore, Portugal, and the United Kingdom,” he said.
Dr Yii, who is the Bandar Kuching MP, strongly believed that despite the fact that the country could not afford to go back to the days of the lockdown and strict restrictions, the public must continue to protect themselves more.
“The World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Tuesday that the pandemic remains a global health emergency and countries should consider public health measures like masking and social distancing when cases surge, alongside vaccinations,” he added.
Dr Yii also encouraged people to continue to wear masks, especially in crowded areas, and get vaccinated.
“Data on the new strain from Israel and the United States of America showed that individuals who have completed their primary vaccination and received two booster doses have a lower mortality rate compared to those who have taken only a single booster dose, especially people aged 60 and above,” he shared.
Recent data from the USA’s Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that a double booster decreases up to 99 per cent among those that are 50-plus years old during the initial Omicron wave.
“Single boosters reduce up to 86 per cent and those vaccinated but not boosted also have a reduced death rate,” he added.
Dr Yii suggested that the government must continue to strengthen the public health system in preparation of possible surge and wave of cases in the near future.
