Covid-19: Lambda variant yet to be detected in M'sia, says Health DG

PETALING JAYA: Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah (pic) dispels claims that the Lambda Covid-19 variant has arrived in Malaysia.

Dr Noor Hisham said the latest genomic screening still showed Delta as the dominant Variant of Concern (VOC) here while no cases linked to the Lambda variant had been detected so far.

"Not true and the latest genomic screening showed all 43 samples were Delta variants as the dominant VOC.

"So far no Lambda variant has been detected in our country," he said in a Twitter post on Tuesday (Aug 17).

This followed a question posed by user @IrwanFahmiid who asked, "I heard the Lambda variant had arrived in Malaysia. Is this true? @DGHisham."

On Friday (Aug 13), Dr Noor Hisham called for stricter border control, including implementing risk assessments on individuals returning from abroad, to prevent the Lambda variant from spreading into the country.

He said so far, the Health Ministry has not detected cases involving the Lambda variant in the country, adding that the ministry would further enhance its capability by running the full genomic sequence to detect the emergence of any VOCs.

On Thursday (Aug 15), the Philippines reported its first case of the Lambda variant, a new Covid-19 strain that is more dangerous than the highly infectious Delta variant.

The Lambda strain was reported to have originated from Peru.

As of Monday (Aug 16), Malaysia has recorded a cumulative 1,424,639 cases of Covid-19 since the outbreak began early last year.

The country’s Covid-19 death toll stands at 12,784.

Not true and the latest genomic screening showed all 43 samples were delta variant as the dominant VOC. so far No lambda variant has been detected in our country. — Noor Hisham Abdullah (@DGHisham) August 17, 2021