Sabah daily cases hover above 5,000 mark

Tackling issues: Members of the public making enquiries at the MySejahtera Help Kiosk at World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur.

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah’s Covid-19 numbers continue to hover above 5,000 daily new cases as the authorities blame the spread on community transmissions.

State Covid-19 spokesman Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun said the state recorded 5,359 new cases yesterday with 61.4% of the cases being sporadic infection within the community.

“The high number of daily cases is due to infections in communities that have become difficult to control because the cause and place of infection are unknown,” he said.

He reminded the people that the only and best way not to be infected was to avoid being in crowds at public places and to follow standard operating procedures and advice from the Health Ministry.

“With the high number of sporadic cases in Sabah, it is relatively easy to predict that the number of daily cases in the near future will remain high,” Masidi cautioned.

He said Kota Kinabalu remained the location with the highest number of daily cases with 1,362, followed by Penampang (583), Tuaran (494), Putatan (457), Papar (293), Lahad Datu (244), Tawau (243), Beaufort (233), Sandakan (207), Kota Belud (203), Keningau (166), Kota Marudu (150) and Ranau (147).

Masidi also noted that districts with record high daily case loads reflected the high percentage of sporadic infections.

The percentage of sporadic infections in Kota Kinabalu is almost 62.5% of the total new cases, Penampang (64.1%), Tuaran (56.3%), Putatan (75.5%), Papar (56%), Lahad Datu (62.3%), Tawau (73.6%), Beaufort (68.2%), Sandakan (83%) and Kota Belud (60.6 %), he added.

He said 673 children below the age of 11 were also infected by the virus, reiterating his call to parents to vaccinate their children (aged five to 11).

“It will help reduce the risk of infection or the effects of a more serious infection,” he added.

Of the 5,359 new infections, 5,341 patients or 99.66% were in Categories One and Two, nine people in Category Three, four people in Category Four and five people in Category Five.