KUCHING: Sarawak should be able to apply the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) new policy where asymptomatic close contacts who have received their booster shots need not undergo quarantine.
In stating this, Dr Helmy Hazmi, an associate professor attached to Universiti Malaysia Sarawak’s (UNIMAS) Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences explained that according to recent research, the Omicron variant has a shorter incubation period than the Delta variant.
“The serial interval time for people infected with the Omicron variant is two days, in contrast to four in the Delta variant.
“The serial interval means the time a person who is infected shows symptoms to the time it spreads to another person and exhibits symptoms. Therefore, the period of infectivity has been shortened.
“To put it another way, there is a smaller window of opportunity to catch illnesses before they spread,” he told New Sarawak Tribune when asked for comments on MOH’s new procedure for close contact management.
Additionally, when compared to the Delta version, he said the viral load of an infected person is lower for an asymptomatic person with the Omicron variant.
“The virus clears quickly in a person who has received the booster dose. According to a recent regional study, people who received the booster dose have a 75 per cent lower likelihood of developing an infection with symptoms.
“Those who received the two primary doses, on the other hand, have a 35 per cent chance of developing symptomatic illness,” he said.
Dr Helmy also said that the Omicron variant is less likely to cause lung damage, but it thrives in the upper airways, and as a result, patients with Omicron infection are less likely to be admitted to the hospital for a serious infection.
“However, this change does not imply that we can forgo the mask and become lackadaisical.
“A proper fitting mask is still needed and self-testing with a rapid test on day one and day three is still required for contacts without symptoms,” he stressed.
On another note, he urged the public to use the rapid self test kit correctly and to make sure that the reading is accurate.
The MOH’s new close contact procedure which took effect on March 1 states that those identified as close contacts of a Covid-19 positive case and do not show any symptoms and have received their boosters need not undergo quarantine.
However, these individuals are still required to undergo self-tests on day one and day three after their exposure.
While individuals who were close contacts with no symptoms but had not taken their booster shots are required to undergo quarantine for five days and will be given the Home Surveillance Order (HSO).
In addition, close contacts with symptoms will have to undergo home quarantine for five days.
