Be careful when visiting Ramadan bazaars, shopping malls — Masidi

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah continued to record a decrease in new Covid-19 cases with 140 infections on Monday, which was a reduction of 27 cases compared to the day before.

Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun said almost all districts were showing improvement with the number of new cases fluctuated everyday.

He said only four districts registered two-digit cases, namely Kota Kinabalu (37), Tuaran (21), Tenom (13) and Penampang (12).

Seventeen districts recorded single-digit infections, 16 of which only had between one and five new cases.

He said six districts, namely Kinabatangan, Nabawan, Keningau, Tongod, Kalabakan and Putatan reported zero new case in the last 24 hours.

Masidi, who is Sabah’s Covid19 spokesperson, said sporadic infections had increased to 55 per cent from 43 per cent on Sunday.

He reminded that the high percentage of sporadic infections indicated a higher risk of infection, particularly at congested or crowded places.

He said the public should exercise caution when visiting public places such as Ramadhan bazaars and shopping malls.

“Many visitors will throng these crowded places for shopping. Do observe all standard operating procedures (SOPs).”

Of the 140 new cases, he said 135 or 96.43 per cent were in Category 1 and 2, four in Category 4 and one in Category 4. No new case was recorded in Category 3.

Meanwhile, Health DirectorGeneral Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the number of new Covid-19 cases remained below the 15,000 mark for two days in a row with 12,380 cases reported on Sunday (April 3), bringing the case tally in the country to 4,246,467.

On Saturday (April 2), 14,692 cases were reported.

Dr Noor Hisham said of the new cases recorded on Sunday, 7,559 were in category one, 4,736 (category two), 32 (category three), 20 (category four) and 33 in category five, the most severe category.

“Of the 85 cases that comprised categories three to five, 24 were not vaccinated or not fully vaccinated, 33 had received two doses of vaccine but not the booster dose, while 28 had received booster shots,” he said in a statement here yesterday.

He added that 20,635 recoveries from the virus were reported on Sunday, bring cumulative recoveries in the country to 4,018,421 cases.

At the same time, Dr Noor Hisham said out of the number of new cases yesterday, 253 required treatment in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), while 157 required respiratory support.

On utilisation of specialised health facilities for Covid-19 cases, he said Kuala Lumpur and Selangor recorded ICU bed occupancy of 50 per cent or more as of yesterday, at 60 per cent and 50 per cent respectively.

He said that as for bed occupancy at Covid-19 LowRisk Quarantine and Treatment Centres (PKRC), no state recorded usage exceeding 50 per cent, while patients needing respirators increased to 157, bringing respirator usage at the facilities to18 per cent.

According to Dr Noor Hisham, 562 COVID-19 cases were admitted to hospitals on Sunday with 220 being in categories three, four and five, while the rest in categories one and two.

The national infectivity rate or Rt value stood at 0.85 on Sunday with Selangor still recording the highest rate of 1.05 and Kelantan the lowest, at 0.69.