Sabah Health Department to remain vigilant despite no coronavirus cases in the state

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah health authorities will continue to remain alert over the novel coronavirus, although no such cases have been reported in the state, says state Health and People's Well-being Minister Datuk Frankie Poon.

He said that a Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre (CPRC) at the Sabah

Health Department was in place to address the coronavirus outbreak.

"There are currently no confirmed cases in Sabah and state hospitals

are ready to deal with the novel coronavirus.

"Once a suspected case is found in Sabah, Sabah Health Department will

classify the patient as 'People Under Investigation (PUI)' and initiate epidemic surveillance process to check whether or not they have novel coronavirus, including placing PUI in isolated wards," he said.

In addition, Poon said government laboratories here have the capacity to conduct tests on novel coronavirus without the need of sending samples to Kuala Lumpur.

"We will be able to detect and confirm the status of the People Under

Investigation faster and locally," he said after getting a briefing

about the CPRC by the Sabah Health Department director Datuk Christina

Rundi here Wednesday (Feb 5).

He said CPRC will be monitoring all latest updates on the coronavirus and share information with the respective hospital directors, while checking on the preparedness and readiness of the hospitals in Sabah.

This includes training of medical staff, mobilisation of core medical personnel and availability of isolation units among others.

He urged people showing symptoms of the coronavirus (such as fever, cough, flu and difficulty in breathing) to seek treatment at nearby hospitals or clinics.

Some 5,418 Chinese tourists from Wuhan had come to Sabah before the

city was lockdown on Jan 23 with direct flights from Wuhan to Kota Kinabalu stopped immediately the next day.

On Jan 30, Sabah temporarily banned Chinese nationals from 15 cities in China from entering the state as measure to check on the spread of the coronavirus spread.

On Tuesday (Feb 4), Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Christina Liew said the Immigration Department will allow a special extension of one week to China nationals stranded in the state following the novel coronavirus outbreak, but this could only be done at the state Immigration head office in Kota Kinabalu.

Liew said the extension was applicable only to those Chinese tourists who arrived in Sabah before Jan 31,2020.