Low vaccination rate causing Sabah surge, says Masidi

 

Only 17.6% of the population or 485,880 people in the state have received both doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, according to Masidi Manjun.

KOTA KINABALU: The number of new Covid-19 cases in Sabah will continue to rise unless more vaccinations are carried out, the state’s official spokesman on Covid-19 Masidi Manjun warned today.

This follows a surge in new cases reported over the last 24 hours, resulting in Sabah hitting a new record high of 1,383 cases, which is an increase of 136 cases from yesterday. The previous high was 1,379 cases on Sunday.

Masidi, who is state local government and housing minister, said the daily numbers presented were “predictable and expected”.

“Until and unless a significant percentage of the population is vaccinated, the numbers will remain high,” he told FMT.

“With the virus now in the community, contact tracing has become more difficult and the lockdown has, to some extent, been rendered ineffective.”

According to Masidi, the Sabah health department (JKNS) and related agencies are doing their best to vaccinate the population, adding, as of yesterday, a total of 1,126,645 individuals have received their first dose.

“This means 40.8% of the state’s adult population have received their first jabs.

“Those who have completed both doses are still low, with only 17.6% of the population, or 485,880 individuals, being fully vaccinated.

“The government is continuing to ramp up the JKNS’ vaccination capacity while ensuring the vaccine supply is sufficient at all times,” he said.

Masidi said a bulk of the new cases continue to take place in the state capital, with 326 infections detected today, accounting for 24% of the overall infections.

This was followed by Tawau (168), Sandakan (138) and Tuaran (92), among others.

He said there are also significant spikes in new cases in the east coast districts such as Sandakan, Kinabatangan and Beluran as well as the interior and far-flung districts such as Keningau, Kota Marudu, Tenom and Kota Belud.

Close contact infections were responsible for more than half of the cases, with 54.2% or 749 cases, while symptomatic or sporadic cases accounted for 23.3% or 322 cases.

Masidi said a new cluster, namely the Kampung Timbua cluster in Ranau, was also identified today, where at least 49 people tested positive. - FMT