Shafie: Those from active Covid-19 states will be barred from entering Sabah

KOTA KINABALU: Anyone coming from states with active Covid-19 clusters will be barred from entering Sabah, says caretaker Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal.

He said airport authorities must make sure thermal sensors were placed and functioning while hand sanitisers are provided as well.

He said these were part of the measures to prevent the virus from spreading in Sabah.

“We are monitoring the Covid-19 trends and cases everyday, like the one in the Lahad Datu lockup, we are keeping a close watch, ” he said.

Shafie said they were lucky that Sabah’s Covid-19 situation was not as bad so far.

“For campaigns and related programmes leading to the coming state elections, please make sure SOPs are abided by strictly, ” he said.

He advised against the holding of gatherings in large numbers, especially those that were hard to control and where SOPs were difficult to implement.

Shafie also instructed all officials involved in the coming polls to be equipped with face masks, hand sanitisers and to maintain physical distancing at all times until the end of the vote counting.

He said the state government had provided 10 million pieces of face masks and hand sanitisers for the use of district and polling officials throughout this election period.

On Sept 1, the Ministry of Health (MoH) discovered a new cluster at the Lahad Datu border with seven confirmed cases.

Health Director-General Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a statement that the new cluster was detected after 50 new detainees at the Lahad Datu police headquarters were screened for Covid-19 on Aug 28.