Virus outbreak in prisons

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah recorded the highest daily number of Covid-19 cases thus far at 666 cases, with 50.3 per cent of cases involving infections in two prisons in the state, said state Local Government and Housing Minister, Datuk Masidi Manjun.

He said that the Kepayan Prison recorded 211 cases on Sunday, while Tawau Prison has 124 cases, making a total of 335 Covid-19 positive cases reported in these two prisons.

“Cases in Kepayan Prison accounted for 76 per cent of cases in Kota Kinabalu district while cases in Tawau Prison contributed 85.5 per cent of the 145 cases reported in Tawau district,” he said, adding Sabah also recorded two deaths in Lahad Datu and Beaufort on Sunday.

Of the 666 cases, Masidi said Kota Kinabalu registered the most cases at 278 new infections, followed by Tawau (145), Sandakan (53), Sipitang (48), Kalabakan (31), Beaufort (27), Kota Belud (17), Penampang (16) and Kinabatangan (10).

Both Keningau and Telupid reported nine new cases each, Putatan (8), Kudat (6), Papar (4), Tuaran (3) and Semporna (2).

He said Kota Marudu had been reclassified from red to orange zone, whereas Kalabakan was upgraded from yellow to red zone.

Masidi, who is Sabah’s Covid19 spokesperson, said four new clusters were recorded, namely the Batu Tiga Utara Cluster in Sandakan, Agathis Cluster in Kalabakan, Sri Sandau Cluster in Kinabatangan and Tembok Dua Cluster in Tawau. He said the Batu Tiga Utara Cluster in Sandakan originated from a treatment centre.

The index case is a 27-year-old male hemodialysis patient who seeks treatment at the dialysis unit of a government hospital. He experienced Covid-19 symptoms on July 11 and tested positive at a private clinic two days later. Four of his family members were found to have contracted the virus through contact screening.

On Saturday, the dialysis unit of the hospital conducted screenings at its wards and found 14 positive cases among patients at the treatment centre.

Meanwhile, he said the Agathis Cluster involved the spread of Covid-19 infections at workplace, namely an oil palm plantation in Kalabakan. The index case is a driver of the estate, 46, who tested positive from symptomatic screening at a private clinic at the plantation.

“Preliminary investigation found that the index case has previously brought symptomatic workers to the estate’s clinic for treatment.”

The driver’s co-workers and nurse at the clinic have tested positive for Covid-19. To date, he said the cluster had registered 33 positive cases, including 31 new infections.

Masidi said the third cluster, Sri Sandau Cluster in Kinabatangan, was detected when a 35-yearold female foreign plantation worker was tested positive at a private clinic in Nangoh, Beluran on July 12. The screening was conducted for entry into the plantation and subsequent close contact screenings uncovered another 10 positive cases among her co-workers.

He said the Tembok Dua Cluster in Tawau had registered 35 positive cases among inmates as of July 16 before they left prison, including 30 cases who would be released to Temporary Detention Depot and Immigration.

Meanwhile, he said five cases have affairs to attend to out of prison, one has antenatal appointment and four inmates have court hearings.

“All the positive cases are in Blok Ceria, Damai and Abadi, which are ‘clean’ prison blocks whereby all detainees have undergone 14-day quarantine and presented two negative samples.”

He said close contact screening has been done on inmates and prison officers.

“Preliminary investigation found that there is no epidemiological link to the previous Tembok Tawau Cluster that happened in Blok Ehsan, which is a contaminated block. As of today, 159 cases have been detected, including 124 new ones.”

Masidi said that of the 666 cases recorded on Sunday, 435 patients or 65.3 per cent were at category 1 (asymptomatic), while 225 people or 33.8 per cent at category 2 who were symptomatic without pneumonia.

Cases in Kepayan Prison accounted for 76 per cent of cases in Kota Kinabalu district while cases in Tawau Prison contributed 85.5 per cent of the 145 cases reported in Tawau district.

Datuk Masidi Manjun

“This means that 99.1 per cent of those who are confirmed positive today only need to undergo treatment at the Covid19 Quarantine and Low-Risk Treatment Centre, and are in no need of hospitalisation,” he said.

On the other hand, Masidi said 275 Covid-19 patients have recovered or discharged from hospitals.

He said a total of 3,058 patients were still undergoing treatment, including 462 at hospitals, 1,815 at Low-Risk Quarantine and Treatment Centres and 781 at temporary detention centre or prisons.

“There are 56 patients in intensive care units and nine are on ventilators.”