KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has detected a second Covid-19 Omicron variant case, this one involving an eight-year-old Malaysian girl who had been residing in Lagos, Nigeria with her family, says Khairy Jamaluddin.

       The Health Minister said the Omicron link was confirmed via genotyping assays that the Institute of Medical Research conducted on the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests performed on the girl and her family who arrived on Dec 5.

       He added that the girl arrived in Malaysia through a transit flight from Doha, Qatar with her mother and sister.

       The patient and her family members underwent the Covid-19 PCR test upon arrival at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), and her test result had returned positive.

       “They were then issued a surveillance order under Section 15 of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act, and ordered to undergo home quarantine,” Khairy told a press conference at the Parliament building yesterday.

       Malaysia reported its first confirmed case of Omicron infection on Dec 3, which was detected in a foreign student who arrived here on Nov 19.

       Khairy also announced that there are 18 more probable cases that are currently undergoing genomic sequencing to determine the type of variant, with the results expected today.

       The girl, her mother and her sibling took their second RT-PCR test upon arrival at KLIA before being placed under quarantine.

       The results for the second RT-PCR test came out positive two days later for the girl, while confirmation that it was the Omicron variant came a week later on Dec 14.

       The girl is asymptomatic and has been placed under home isolation for 14 days from Dec 7.

       “The close contact of the case is the mother, sister, father, and the taxi driver who drove them from KLIA to their home,” said Khairy, who added that all the close contacts are currently asymptomatic.

       Tests on both the girl’s mother and younger sister on the fifth day and the 11th day did not reveal anything, while her father, who arrived in Malaysia on Dec 12, is being quarantined at a private centre.

       “The test result for her father upon arrival was negative,” said Khairy, who added that testing on the taxi driver is ongoing.

       There are 35 other contacts on the flight the girl was on, all of whom tested negative on arrival and on Day 5.

       “Monitoring the identified close contacts will be done thoroughly from time to time,” said Khairy, who also announced that Nigeria has been placed on the list of high-risk countries, with those entering Malaysia from there having to wear digital surveillance devices.