COVID: No Lambda variant detected in Sarawak so far
KUCHING, Aug 5 -- No Lambda (C.37) COVID-19 variant case has been detected in Sarawak so far, according to the Institute of Health and Community Medicine (IHCM) of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS).
IHCM director, Prof Dr David Perera in a statement today said as such, the people in the state should not be unduly alarmed.
He said the IHCM was committed to working closely with the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee through the institute’s COVID-19 genome sequencing analysis to inform the general public on the entry of any new variant into Sarawak.
“However, we would like to advise the public on the seriousness of following the standard operating procedures (SOPs).
"This is to prevent any increase in virus transmission which may potentially lead to the emergence of new variants. This becomes more important as we slowly move to Phase 3 of the National Recovery Plan," he added.
Prof Perera said the earliest documented Lambda sample was from Peru in December, 2020.
"To date, this variant has been detected predominantly in South America, the USA, Europe and more recently in India,” he said.
Since the outbreak of COVID-19 last year, IHCM has been at the forefront in the fight against the pandemic in the state.
It was tasked with testing samples and genome sequencing analysis to detect changes in the virus.
-- BERNAMA
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