Sabah’s cases continue to drop, 35 deaths recorded

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah recorded its lowest daily Covid-19 infections since Aug 11 with 1,356 cases on Sunday.

Thirty-five fatalities were reported, including 14 in Sandakan, nine in Kota Kinabalu, three in Keningau, two each in Putatan and Lahad Datu and one each in Kunak, Ranau, Tawau, Penampang and Nabawan.

Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun said Sabah’s Covid-19 cases continued its downward trend and had decreased by 39 cases compared to Saturday.

Kota Kinabalu topped the list with 220 cases, an increase of 60 cases from the previous day.

He said 78 positive cases involving Petronas offshore oil rig employees had contributed to the rise in the state capital.

Meanwhile, Lahad Datu recorded 122 cases, followed by Sandakan (112), Tuaran (94) and Pitas (81).

Masidi, who is Sabah’s Covid19 spokesperson, said 12 districts registered increase in infections, nine experiencing a drop and five maintained their Saturday’s figures.

Among the districts that showed significant increase in Covid-19 cases were Pitas, Penampang, Tambunan and Tenom, whereas Putatan, Sandakan, Kinabatangan, Kota Marudu and Tuaran recorded an obvious decrease.

“There are 11 cases involving detainees today,” he added.

Masidi said close contact screenings remained the main contributor of the cases in Sabah with 766 infections or 56.5 per cent of the tally, followed by 380 cases (28 per cent) from symptomatic screenings, 11 cases (0.8 per cent) from cluster screenings and 199 cases (14.7 per cent) from other screenings.

Of the 1,356 cases on Sunday, he said 606 cases (44.69 per cent) were cases registered after two to three days, 32 cases (2.36 per cent) recorded between four to five days and 13 cases (0.96 per cent) were backlog cases registered more than five days.

He added that 337 cases (24.85 per cent) of the new patients fell under Category 1, 933 cases (68.81 cases) under Category 2 and nine cases each in Category 3, 4 and 5, whereas 59 cases were still under investigation.

Masidi also said 1,912 Covid19 patients have recovered on Sunday, while 4,106 were still undergoing treatment.

On another note, he said 15 per cent of the 426,000 teenagers between the age of 12 and 17 in Sabah have been vaccinated.

He said 24,667 teenagers were inoculated on Sunday, which brought the cumulative vaccine recipients in the age group to 63,826.

As for grown-ups, he said 1,560,178 or 56.6 per cent of the adult population in Sabah have been fully vaccinated to date.

Meanwhile, the Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO) at Taman Pantai Lok Kawi in Papar will be extended until Oct 4 while the lockdown at Kampung Buanog Matunggong, Kudat; Kampung Tetabuan in Beluran; Kampung Magatang in Keningau; and Kampung Kilanas in Ranau will end on Sept 20.