Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – Malaysian Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad said the country is closely monitoring a new COVID-19 variant named XFG after its detection through genomic surveillance.
The XFG variant, a sublineage of Omicron, was classified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on June 25 as a “variant under monitoring” due to its high transmissibility and immune evasion.
However, Dzulkefly stressed that it is not considered concerning in terms of virulence and does not cause more severe symptoms than other Omicron strains. Despite its faster spread, it has not been linked to increased disease severity.
The latest genomic surveillance data announced by the Malaysian Ministry of Health shows that the XFG variant accounts for 8.2% of the 43,087 COVID-19 cases recorded in 2025.
Notably, Malaysia’s total COVID-19 cases so far this year have fallen by 49.5% year-on-year.
Only one out of the three COVID-19 fatalities reported in the country since the beginning of 2025 was linked to XFG. Most XFG cases have shown only common symptoms such as shortness of breath, with no unusual or severe signs.
The ministry and the Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre remain on alert, closely monitoring all subvariants through genome sequencing to track the spread of variants, thus preventing potential outbreaks./.
