KUALA LUMPUR: Continuous studies by six research institutes on Covid-19 spike protein mutation have identified 475 Variant of Concerns (VOC) cases nationwide where a majority are of the Delta variant detected in Sarawak.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said 472 were the Delta (B.1.617.2) variant while three were of the Beta (B.1.351) variant.
"As for the Delta variant, Sarawak has the highest number of cases with 302 followed by Selangor with 54 and 26 in Sabah.
"This was followed by Penang (23), Pahang (17), Johor (13), Kuala Lumpur (12), Perlis (7), Terengganu (6), Kedah (5), Negri Sembilan (4) and one respective in Melaka, Putrajaya and Kelantan," he said in a statement today.
Dr Noor Hisham said as for the Beta variant, two cases were detected in Sabah and one in Penang.
He said the Health and Community Medicine Institute had identified 302 Delta variant cases while the Malaysian Genome Institute detected 61 Delta variant cases and two Beta variants.
The Integrative Pharmacogenomics Institute discovered 48 Delta variant and one Beta variant, the Medical Research Institute found 37 Delta variant, the UKM Medical Molecular Biology Institute with 18 Delta variant while the Tropical Infectious Diseases Research & Education Centre detected seven Delta variant.
Dr Noor Hisham said the cumulative cases infected by Covid-19's VOC and Variant of Interest (VOI) categories now stood at 1,860.
"Of the number, 1,840 are VOC while 20 are VOI. Overall, to date, under VOC, there are 1,612 Delta variant cases, 214 Beta variant cases and 14 Alpha variant cases.
"As of VO, there are 13 Theta variant cases, four Kappa variant cases and three Eta variant cases," he said.
