New Delhi (NVI): As the world battles to contain the deadly novel coronavirus disease and develop a vaccine for it, Malaysia has detected a new strain of the virus that has been found to be 10 times more infectious, according to the country’s health authorities.
The mutation strain is found to be 10 times easier to infect other individuals and easier to spread.
The mutation, which is known as D614G, was discovered by the Malaysian Institute for Medical Research in 4 cases from two Covid-19 clusters in the country – the Sivagangga cluster and the Ulu Tiram cluster.
The discovery of this mutation means people need to be more careful and continue being disciplined in practising safety measures such as social distancing, personal hygiene and wearing of masks.
The strain could mean that existing studies on vaccines may be incomplete or ineffective against the mutation, said Director-General of Health Noor Hisham Abdullah.
“People need to be wary and take greater precautions because this strain has now been found in Malaysia. The people’s cooperation is very needed so that we can together break the chain of infection from any mutation,” Noor Hisham wrote in a Facebook post.
While Malaysia has managed to contain the resurgence of the virus, the number of new cases in the country has been picking up.
So far, Malaysia has reported 9,175 positive cases of coronavirus while the death toll stands at 125.
-CHK
