702 cases, six deaths in Sabah

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah’s daily Covid-19 infections hit a record high of 702 cases yesterday.

Six deaths were also reported in Sabah, two each at Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), Tawau Hospital and Duchess of Kent Hospital in Sandakan.

The deceased aged between 41 and 70 years old.

Sabah also registered a new cluster, Kepayan Prison, with 49 cases.

The index case was tested positive during a Covid-19 screening upon admission to QEH on October 14. Close contact screenings identified another 48 individuals who contracted the virus.

Eighty-one cases were detected under existing clusters while 572 new cases were registered through Covid-19 screenings.

Semporna recorded 141 new cases yesterday, followed by Kota Kinabalu (127), Lahad Datu (98), Sandakan (78), Tawau (70), Tuaran (44), Putatan (24), Penampang (20), Tambunan (19), Keningau (16), Kunak (11), Papar (10), Ranau (10), Kota Belud (9), Kudat (6), Kuala Penyu (5), Pitas (4) and two each in Kinabatangan, Sipitang, Kota Marudu, Tenom and Telupid.

Director-General of Health Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the high cases in Sabah was due to more individuals being screened in the field and since the beginning of the pandemic and a total of 251,030 individuals had been screened in the state.

“On October 18, 2020 (Sunday), the cumulative Covid-19 cases in Sabah are 7,439 (36.3 per cent of the cumulative cases in Malaysia).

“The high number of cases is due to the samples from Sabah sent to the Medical Research Institute in large numbers,” he told a press conference in Putrajaya.