Wedding sparks cluster as Sabah cases breach four digits

KOTA KINABALU: A 66-year-old man who attended a wedding in Beaufort has sparked the state’s latest cluster as Sabah hit 1,205 new Covid-19 cases yesterday, the highest since September last year.

Sabah Covid-19 spokesman Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun said that the Kampung Weston Cluster in Beaufort district involved an index case who attended a wedding on Jan 29.

He had been suffering fever, cough and body aches since Jan 30 and was found positive through a PCR test at the Penampang Health Clinic on Feb 3.

Masidi said the cluster involved family members from Kampung Lubok and Kampung Menengah in Weston.

So far, the total number of cases related to the community cluster is 27 people, of which 22 were reported yesterday.

Masidi said that the number of daily cases in Sabah tripled in three days to hit 1,205 yesterday, an increase of 296 cases compared with Friday.

He said that four districts recorded three-digit cases: Sandakan (230 cases), Kota Kinabalu (213), Penampang (113) and Tuaran (113).

A total of 13 districts recorded double-digit daily cases with six districts reporting more than 50 cases each: Papar (84 cases), Kota Marudu (74), Beaufort (62), Ranau (55) Lahad Datu (53) and Tawau (52).

He said only Kalabakan in south-western Sabah did not record any new cases.

“The new cases from sporadic infections accounted for 527 or 43.7% of today’s cases,” he said.

Masidi said that the statistics show that the virus is already entrenched in the community and will result in a faster and more widespread rate of infection.