KOTA KINABALU: Covid-19 cases in Sabah increased by almost two-fold today compared to yesterday as the state registered 532 new cases and five deaths.
The spike in cases was the result of a major Covid-19 screening at the Manggatal temporary detention centre here, which registered 150 cases involving the Rumah Merah cluster. These were among the 195 new cases detected in Kota Kinabalu.
The Dbajaru cluster also contributed to the increase in today's cases after it recorded 133 infections out of the overall 166 new cases in the Lahad Datu district.
Sabah Covid-19 spokesperson Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun said major screening was carried out at the Manggatal temporary detention centre after several detainees began showing symptoms and later tested positive for Covid-19.
He said the detainees had initially tested negative during their first screening. This, he said, may have been due to them being in the early phase of infection and thus having a low viral load.
So far, a total of 1,702 detainees have been screened using the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (rt-PCR) method.
Yesterday, Sabah recorded 274 new cases and two deaths.
Masidi also rejected claims made in a viral message on social media which alleged that Donggongon town would go under lockdown.
Masidi stressed that this was untrue and advised the people to check the validity of any messages with the relevant authorities to avoid sharing fake news related to Covid-19.
On whether Sabah would be getting more vaccines following the federal government's purchase of 12.8 million doses of Pfitzer's Covid-19 vaccine, Masidi said he believed a large amount would be allocated for Sabah, which has the highest number of daily cases in the country.
"The important factor to take into consideration is the green light from the Ministry of Health (MoH) on the efficacy of the vaccine.
"There is the issue of whether it (the vaccine) is really effective, and I trust the MoH. Once they say this is something we need and is effective, and has undergone stringent evaluation by the ministry, we will then take the cue from there.
"If there is a need for Sabah to get more (Covid-19 vaccines) on its own, we will decide when the time comes," he said.
Masidi said Sabah would also maintain its standard operating procedure of 50 per cent occupancy per table for dining, despite the Federal government lifting the limit on dine-in seating.
"It is still risky if we were to lift the dining restriction as the number of cases in the state is still a matter of concern. I do hope business operators and customers will be patient as we need to focus on breaking the chain (of infection)," he said. NST
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