KUALA LUMPUR: The Health Ministry has detected 27 more cases of the South African Covid-19 variant B.1.351 in Malaysia.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the cases were detected through genomic surveillance conducted from April 24 until today.
He said these 27 cases were then confirmed by the Institute for Medical Research (IMR).
"These latest infections bring the total number of cases involving the South African variant B.1.351 to 48.
"This variant was detected for the first time in Perak and Kelantan, involving two clusters, along with seven cases detected in Selangor."
He said 10 cases each were detected in the Jalan Canning Estate cluster and Kampung Bunut Sarang Burung cluster, and seven from close contacts.
He added three more cases of the UK B.1.1.7 variant were detected, bringing the total to eight cases.
The cases were detected from the Lorong Megah Jaya cluster (one) and close contact screening (two).
Dr Noor Hisham also said that Malaysia has detected its first Covid-19 variant of the highly infectious 'Indian strain' with double mutations, called B.1.617.1.
"The case involved an individual with a travel history to Mumbai, India.
"He entered Malaysia using an employment pass on April 10 and tested positive for Covid-19 at the international entry point the same day.
"The case was identified to be infected with B.1.617.1 variant.
"The case has been isolated and is currently receiving treatment."