KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has registered one death from a foreigner who was infected with the B.1617.2 variant, which is a sublineage of the Indian B.1.617 Covid-19 Variant of Interest (VOI).
He succumbed to the virus on May 1 this year.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the foreigner had arrived in Malaysia on April 7 and had undergone a Covid-19 test at the international arrival gate.
"Both tests conducted on April 7 and 12 returned negative. However, he was reported positive for the virus on April 21 when he was brought to the Emergency and Trauma Unit after experiencing Covid-19 severe symptoms. His health declined and he died on May 1," he said in a statement today.
Dr Noor Hisham said the B.1617.2 sublineage case, as well as B.1617.1, were detected and confirmed by the Institute for Medical Research (IMR) which conducted genomic surveillance on 33 Covid-19 samples from May 3 to 10.
The IMR also discovered 14 new Covid-19 cases which were infected by the South African variant B.1.351 in Kelantan, Kedah, Selangor and Negri Sembilan.
"The cases involved the Kampung Domis cluster (seven), Bangkahulu cluster (one), Bayan Cenderawasih cluster (one), close contact screening (four), and one case involving a Covid-19 infection after vaccination," he said.
To date, the overall number of Covid-19 cases infected by the South African variant B.1.351 is 62.
Separately, Dr Noor Hisham, in extending his Hari Raya Aidilfitri wishes, reminded the people to adhere to the Standard Operating Procedures set by the National Security Council.
He urged the people to comply with the restrictions of not visiting family and friends, going on grave visits and participating in mass gatherings as well as social activities.
"This is as a majority of people, up to 78.4 per cent who contracted Covid-19, did not have any symptoms and this makes the risk of infection and transmission extremely high should there be Hari Raya Aidilfitri visiting.
"Clusters involving the community have also increased significantly where out of 435 registered, 129 are still active. They were infected by their family and close contacts, at celebratory events, funerals, weddings, festivals and other social activities," he said.