Malaysia has lifted a travel ban on eight southern African countries that had been among the first to report the Omicron variant of the coronvirus, citing the greater spread of the variant worldwide, its health minister said on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, authorities would cut the wait time for booster vaccine doses amid concerns over the spread of Omicron, health minister Khairy Jamaluddin told reporters. Authorities have detected 306 suspected Omicron cases out of 366 samples from travellers who had tested positive for COVID-19 upon arrival between Dec. 21 and 25, he said. “We are still waiting for results from the whole genome sequencing to confirm,” he said, adding that Malaysia has reported only one confirmed case of local transmission so far. Khairy said given the rapid spread of the variant globally, there was no reason to continue with a travel ban against countries in Africa.
Malaysia lifts African travel ban, cuts booster wait amid Omicron fears
Echoes of the Heart
Kazakh President satisfied with results of talks with Putin
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signified satisfaction following the lengthy face-to-face talks with President of Russia Vladimir Putin in Sochi, the Facebook account of the President’s press secretary Ruslan Zheldibay reads. During the talks the parties debated a wide range of issues concerning trade and economic, investment, humanitarian cooperation, cooperation of the two nations in the […]Read More »