PUTRAJAYA: A new variant has been detected among Covid-19 cases reported in Malaysia, says Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad.
The Health Minister said the XFG variant accounted for 8.2% of the 43,087 cumulative cases reported in the 35th epidemiology week (ME 35/2025).
He said the new variant was detected by the Health Ministry through genomic surveillance (to track the spread of variants).
“The latest genomic surveillance data shows that 34% of the reported cases are of the NB.1.8.1 variant, followed by JN.1 (18.1%), XEC (13.3%), XFG (8.2%) and others (21.0%)," he said in a post on his X (formerly known as Twitter) account on Friday (Sept 19).
He pointed out that the number of Covid-19 cases recorded in ME 35/2025 saw a 49.5% drop compared to the number of cases reported in the same period last year, which was 85,297 cases.
He said one death has been reported in ME 35/2025 - a 91-year-old bedridden person - bringing the accumulative death this year to three.
On June 25, the World Health Organisation had designated the XFG variant as a “variant under monitoring” due to its high transmissibility and increased ability to evade immunity.
Dzulkefly also reminded the public to continue preventive measures such as frequent handwashing, wearing face masks when symptomatic or in crowded areas, and getting vaccinated especially those in high-risk groups.
