'New Covid-19 strain emerges in Sabah'
SULU – Chief Covid fighter Governor Sakur Tan reminded the public anew to observe health protocols and follow community quarantine guidelines and to heed advisories only from official sources.
Tan, head of the provincial task force on Covid-19, also ordered an intensified monitoring in the province following reports that Malaysia has detected a new strain of coronavirus.
“With our frontline partners, we will intensify our monitoring and utilize all material and human resources at our disposal to assure our constituents, as we reiterate our call to them to avoid speculations and the spread of fake and harmful mongering,” he said.
Malaysian media reported that the new Covid-19 strain was identified from dozens of samples taken from Covid-19 patients in Sabah.
The New Strait Times also reported that Malaysia’s Health Minister Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said it is still unknown whether the strain, dubbed the “A701B” mutation, is more infectious than usual.
“It is similar to a strain found in South Africa, Australia and the Netherlands,” he said at a news conference, adding, “the Covid-19 virus always mutates, and we are always monitoring and researching the implication of the different strains towards the population.”
Sulu, which traditionally and historically have close trade ties with Sabah, views this new development seriously and Tan said they will continue to liaise and make representations with the national government’s Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases on how best to handle the emerging situation.
“We have porous coastlines and a vast Sulu Sea between us and Sabah, and only the national government is equipped with the capacity and logistics to put in place and in operation, safeguards and pre-emptive measures called for,” he said.
Sulu only has 8 active Covid-19
cases. (Mindanao Examiner)
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