Masidi praises SMK Nabawan school admin for isolating infected students to prevent spread of Covid-19

KOTA KINABALU: The quick thinking of the SMK Nabawan administration to isolate three symptomatic students has helped prevent further spread of Covid-19 in the school.

State Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun praised a teacher and the school principal, where the students were part of the Sinsingon cluster in Nabawan, which was reported on Wednesday (Feb 24).

The three teenage boys, who are relatives and returned to their school hostel together on Feb 22 to sit for the SPM exams this year, tested positive for Covid-19.

“I would like to highlight Cikgu Lisa, who was the (hostel) warden on duty at the time who saw there were indications that the students might not be healthy, and consulted principal Haliman Darion on the matter.

“They decided to isolate the three in other rooms in the hostel - this wise move has ensured the virus did not spread to the rest of the students, ” he said during a virtual press conference to update Covid-19 developments in Sabah on Friday (Feb 26).

Masidi said there was an increase of cases today in the state, which recorded 129 cases due to the Sinsingon cluster.

The cluster alone recorded 29 cases and were linked to family members at a funeral service in Kampung Sinsingon between Feb 17 and 20.

“This cluster has also spread to other districts, namely Kota Kinabalu with three cases and Keningau with two cases.

“Maybe the family members (infected) were given permission to cross-district because of a death in the family, ” he said when asked how the individuals from the other two districts managed to travel to Nabawan.

Meanwhile, Masidi announced that a new cluster dubbed the Merotai Besar cluster in Kalabakan was recorded with 26 cases.

The index case was a shop assistant supervisor in Merotai, where further close contacts and workplace screenings led to the rest of the cases.

In another development, Masidi announced that effective immediately, billiard premises are now allowed to operate during the conditional movement control order, in line with standard operating procedure (SOP) for the sports sector.

“We allow this with conditions, and protocols must be adhered to with no tournaments allowed, ” he added.