KOTA KINABALU: There will be no changes in public health measures when dealing with the latest Covid-19 Omicron variant, said Sabah Health director Datuk Dr Rose Nani Mudin.
"These measures will be the same, regardless of the variant (of Covid-19). If the public follows the standard operating procedures (SOP) strictly such as wearing masks, no physical contact, and avoiding crowded places, we can control the situation very well.
"Compliance of the SOP is very important. People must look after themselves and we can stop the transmission," she said after an appreciation luncheon with vaccination personnel at the Sabah International Convention Centre (SICC) here.
Also present was SICC chief executive officer Datuk Rosmawati Lasuki.
Dr Rose expressed her concern over the people's laidback attitude once they had been vaccinated as they felt safe, thus abandoning their face masks.
"With the new variants, it is dangerous as this can cause transmission," she warned.
A few days ago, the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned that the Omicron variant poses a "very high" risk globally following South African scientists' finding of the new variant with multiple mutations.
Dr Rose said so far there was no new variant detected in Sabah, but authorities would continue monitoring the entry points closely, conducting random sampling for genome sequencing and monitor the severity of the disease.
She added that it was inevitable that Covid-19 cases may spike due to new variants, but the state would be ready to face such eventualities including having 250 intensive care unit (ICU) beds at major hospitals.
On the state's vaccination rate, she said Sabah recorded 77 per cent of its adult population having been fully vaccinated, which had brought down the fatality rate to a single digit while admission rate to intensive care units was below 50 per cent.
Earlier, Dr Rose said after 126 days, SICC as a mega vaccination centre in the state had helped to administer 300,000 doses including booster shots since it opened to the public on July 28 this year.
Dr Rose also encouraged frontliners, aged 40 and above, with comorbidities to get the booster shot for extra protection.