KOTA KINABALU – The Sabah government has decided that Sabahans in Brunei can return to the state without having to undergo compulsory quarantine, said state Housing and Local Government Minister, Datuk Masidi Manjun.
Masidi, who is also the state government’s Covid-19 spokesman, however, said Covid-19 screening will be mandatory before returning to the state.
“Test results must be obtained within one to three days before entering Sabah,” he said in a statement, today.
Masidi said the state government will also allow families to sit together at the same table while dining-in at restaurants.
In another development, he said Covid-19 screening was conducted on a large scale at the Tawau Temporary Detention Centre today and the results are expected for tomorrow.
He said this could contribute to more new Covid-19 cases in the district.
Masidi said 260 Covid-19 new positive cases were recorded today, bringing the cumulative number in the state to 33,371 and three deaths in Sandakan.
He said 139 or 53.5% of the new cases today were the result of close-contact screening in 15 districts, with 52 of the cases (20%) from screening in the existing clusters, symptomatic screening (34 cases or 13.1%), community screening (eight cases or three per cent), and 27 cases (10.4%) in other categories.
He added that 400 Covid-19 patients were reported to have recovered and discharged from hospital, bringing the cumulative number in Sabah to 30,283.
Meanwhile, 2,192 patients are still receiving treatment, comprising 603 at hospitals and 1,589 at the quarantine and low-risk treatment centres (PKRC), 60 at the intensive care units, while 14 require ventilators.
At the Covid-19 hospitals and PKRC, 6,567 beds or 33.38 per cent are in use today. – Bernama, December 15, 2020
