Covid-19: High number of sporadic cases indicates virus widespread in Sabah

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah’s huge number of sporadic Covid-19 cases shows how widespread the virus is within the community, says Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun.

He said of the 2,069 new cases reported on Tuesday (Feb 8), over half or 1,075 were sporadic infections with an unclear point of origin and added that 99% or 2,056 of the total new cases are in Category One and Two.

“Sabah’s rate of transmission is 1.54 compared to the national rate of 1.32. This means there is a possibility that the number of cases would be higher in Sabah compared to other states,” said the minister in charge of Covid-19 in Sabah.

Masidi added that Tuesday’s statistics also saw the emergence of yet another education cluster - Kluster Jalan Kebulian in Kota Marudu district with 16 cases.

The index case for this cluster is an 18-year-old female hostel student in SMK Kota Marudu 2, who showed symptoms of the virus on Feb 2, and tested positive on Feb 3.

She was immediately isolated and given the necessary treatment, along with others who were also tested positive for the virus in her school and hostel.

Masidi also said seven districts recorded three digit cases with Kota Kinabalu having the highest of 395 cases followed by Sandakan (267), Tuaran (192), Papar (161), Penampang (161), Lahad Datu (137) and Tawau (113).