KOTA KINABALU – A 68-year-old woman who travelled over 500km from her home in Semporna in Sabah’s east coast to celebrate Hari Raya Aidilfitri with her children in Penampang near here triggered one of the state’s new Covid-19 clusters yesterday.
The senior citizen, from Kg Bubul Mile 2, breached the inter-district travel ban by going to Taman Deluxe near Kapayan on May 15.
She was confirmed positive for the coronavirus after undergoing an RTK-Antigen swab test on May 19, and displayed symptoms.
The state Local Government and Housing Ministry, in an update, said as of 12pm yesterday, 12 of the 14 people linked to the cluster who underwent screening tested positive.
Health authorities believe the outbreak originated from Raya celebrations at the index case’s village between May 13 and 15. Investigations are ongoing.
The Sabah government banned inter-district travel during the Raya period from May 13 to 15.
It could not be ascertained how the woman was able to cross district lines at a time when roadblocks were stepped up.
Meanwhile, a 50-year-old woman from Inanam and her three children tested positive for Covid-19 in Kg Padawan, Papar, last Saturday.
The cluster was caused by a funeral in the village on May 17.
Six other family members also tested positive for the virus, bringing total cases in the cluster to 10.
The Papar health office has conducted PCR swab tests on 113 close contacts who attended the funeral, which brought together the deceased’s kin from several districts.
They failed to adhere to health standard operating procedures during the three days of the funeral.
Wesak Day restrictions
Sabah has released a set of SOPs for Wesak Day, to be observed by Buddhists, Hindus and Taoists tomorrow.
Temple operators are told to limit the number of devotees present to a third of the usual capacity at any one time, or 50 people, whichever is lower. Devotees are allowed only an hour’s prayer session, between 6am and 2pm.
Parades and inter-district travel are barred.
The enhanced movement control order has been imposed on Taman Seri Ketiau and Taman Desa Seri Ketiau from tomorrow until June 8, after the two localities recorded more than 21 infections over the past week. – The Vibes, May 25, 2021
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