PETALING JAYA: There is a high possibility of an Omicron wave starting in Malaysia, such as seen in other countries around the world currently, says Khairy Jamaluddin.

       The Health Minister said that extensive booster dose coverage, wearing face masks, good ventilation, implementing TRIIS (Test, Report, Isolate, Inform and Seek), activating the MySejahtera Trace system and international gateway control were among the measures to slow the transmission of the highly infectious Covid-19 variant.

       Although some argued that Omicron was less severe than the Delta variant, Khairy said Omicron was indeed more infectious than Delta and would still put a strain on the health system and facilities if transmissions increase.

       "Like other countries, it is very likely that the Omicron wave will start in Malaysia.

       "Some refer to Omicron impact data not as severe as Delta. It looks like that.

       "But the infectiousness of Omicron is higher than Delta. If the case denominator is larger, definitely hospitalisation and ICU (intensive care unit) use will go up.

       "The Health Ministry wants to avoid crippling the public health system. Strategy: slow down Omicron," he said in a series of tweets on Sunday (Jan 2).

       Khairy tweeted this in response to Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah stating that the national infectivity rate of Covid-19 on Saturday (Jan 1) stood at 0.99, an increase from 0.98 from the day before.

       Sepertimana negara2 lain, berkemungkinan besar gelombang Omicron akan mula di Malaysia. Liputan dos penggalak yang luas, pemakaian pelitup muka, pengudaraan yang baik, #TRIIS, MySJ Trace & kawalan pintu masuk antarabangsa anatara langkah perlahankan penularan Omicron. https://t.co/QSQnIUG2Cx

       — Khairy Jamaluddin (@Khairykj) January 2, 2022