Expect Covid spike in KK – Masidi
The number of Covid-19 cases in the state capital is expected to increase drastically in the next few days, said Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun.
Masidi, who is the state’s Covid-19 official spokesperson, said this is due to the emergence of the Kepayan Prison Cluster.
“Although the number of cases in Kota Kinabalu today (Wednesday) is only 90, I would like to remind the people that, due to the emergence of the Kepayan Prison Cluster, there is a very high likelihood that the number of cases in Kota Kinabalu will increase drastically.
“This will depend on the Covid-19 tests conducted on the prisoners in the Kepayan Prison Centre,” he said in his daily press conference yesterday.
Nearly 60 per cent of the tests conducted on the prisoners and hospital staff in the area came out positive. There are around 2,700 prisoners in Kepayan Prison.
In this regard, Masidi said the Sabah State Health Department (JKNS) would continue to give focus on the Kepayan Prison Cluster.
As for the spike of cases in Lahad Datu, Masidi said this is due to the backlog of previous screening tests there.
Sabah recorded 535 new Covid-19 cases along with three new clusters yesterday, which originated from a wedding reception, a fish market and a restaurant.
Lahad Datu, recorded the highest number of cases at 115 followed by Kota Kinabalu (90),
Tawau (83), Tuaran (49) and Sandakan (35).
The three clusters, dubbed as the Basung Cluster in Kudat, Inai Cluster (Kudat) and Tempayan Cluster (Penampang), have registered a total of 58 cases.
The Basung Cluster, which involved fish traders had 26 positive cases while the Inai Cluster, which originated from a ‘Majlis Inai’, had 13 positive cases.
“The Tempayan Cluster involved a restaurant in Penampang whereby a total of 19 of its workers and customers have tested positive. Efforts have been made to trace the close contacts of those who tested positive,” said Masidi.
Sabah also recorded five Covid-19 fatalities yesteday, three in Tuaran and one each in Tawau and Semporna.
As of yesterday, Sabah has recorded a total of 9,290 cases, whereby 3,705 of them have recovered while another 5,513 are still undergoing treatment.