GEORGE TOWN: A virologist from Universiti Sains Malaysia here believes that the Health Ministry has made a sound decision by implementing temperature checks upon arrival at the country's entry points, as well as an RTK test for those with a travel history to China and PCR tests and genome sequencing on sewage samples from flights from China.
Describing these measures and increased surveillance as timely, USM's Dr Kumitaa Theva Das said this would enable early detection of cases abroad.
She said the two main variants driving the cases in China were BA.5.2 and BF.7.
BA.5.2, first detected in Malaysia around March last year, has been circulating for a long time, and thus, it was highly likely that most Malaysians had developed immunity against it.
She added that BF.7, short for BA.5.2.1.7, was a sub-lineage of the Omicron variant BA.5 and was first detected in July 2022. Since then, it had been detected in many countries.
"While it is being attributed to the surge of cases in China, it did not cause a spike in most of the other countries. Taking our vaccination rates, public health practices and mitigation measures into consideration, opening our doors will not pose a problem. As the variant has been detected in many other countries, there is no need to halt visitors from China.
"While there might be asymptomatic cases and some who have called for a pre-departure PCR test, we have to strategically move forward in a manner that is not too disruptive as we move towards endemicity.
"The measures taken by the Health Ministry will allow for detection of not only BF.7, but new variants as well. Concurrently, the World Health Organisation (WHO) is still monitoring the global situation and ensuring that all countries are aware of the situation," she told the New Straits Times today.
It was reported that the Health Ministry is stepping up Covid-19 prevention measures, including amendment of existing policies, following the daily increase in cases in China.
Its minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa had said that since Malaysia's status as an "infected local area" would be extended until June 30, the government would be taking the necessary precaution to contain any possible outbreak.
Elaborating, Dr Kumitaa, a geneticist with USM's Infectomics Cluster, Advanced Medical and Dental Institute, said BF.7 was detected in Malaysia around August and September last year in Selangor, Pahang and Melaka.
"As we did not see an exponential increase in cases then, it is unlikely that the same sub-variants would pose a threat to us now.
"Globally, BA.5 is still dominant, accounting for close to 70 per cent of sequences. Though WHO has placed six variants under monitoring, BF.7 is not on the list," she added.
Reports from China indicated that BF.7 has a very high transmission rate, with the R0 being more than 10, (the average R0 of Omicron is around 5).
However, BF.7's high R0 in China might be due to a lower level of immunity there.
Dr Kumitaa said, based on current evidence, there was also no indication of increased severity associated with BF.7 in comparison to other variants.
BF.7 symptoms, she noted, were similar to those seen earlier such as runny nose, cough, and diarrhea.
"BF.7 had been reported in more than 90 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom and many European countries, such as Germany, Denmark and France.
"Since it is so wide-spread, China's reopening should not be any different. We should mentally prepare ourselves that there will continuously be new variants, most of which will probably have immune-evading abilities.
"Those who are concerned about BF.7's ability to evade our immunity can rest assured that a recent study from the US shows our existing vaccines and boosters will still be able to improve our immunity against BF.7, particularly the bivalent boosters," she pointed out.
As immunity wanes over time, she said those who have not received their
second boosters can do so, especially those who fall within the high-risk group such as the elderly, those with comorbidities, and those immune-compromised.
Practices such as wearing mask, physical distance, and good hygiene would also keep people safe, she said.
Dr Kumitaa said a variant to keep a lookout for that has yet to hit our shores was XBB.1.5, which currently makes up about 40 per cent of the infections in the US, has been increasing in the UK, and its mutations suggest that it is extremely immune evasive.
There has also been an increase in hospitalisation in the US.
"What we are seeing globally now is different from the start of the Covid-19 pandemic where the whole world saw waves of the same variant.
"Right now, different regions seem to be battling different variants, each more immune evasive than the next.
"We can all play our part by being mindful of our surroundings, getting testing when symptomatic, being up-to-date on our boosters and keeping ourselves as safe as possible," she stressed.