KUALA LUMPUR: Five cases of the Covid-19 Omicron BA.5 variant have been detected in Malaysia and are likely to spread widely, says Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.
He said a total of 13 cumulative cases of Omicron sub-lineage variants have been detected in the country including six cases of BA.2.12.1 and two BA.5.2.
ALSO READ: Subvariants spreading like wildfire
“All these cases were detected between May and June. However, there are no cases of sublineage Omicron BA.4 recorded so far.
“The ministry is expecting that new infections will increase due to the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5, especially the BA.5. This is because Omicron BA.5 spread easily compared with previous Omicron variants, namely BA.1 and BA.2,” he told a press conference here on Friday (July 8).
