KOTA KINABALU – The majority of the individuals freshly infected with Covid-19 are undergoing home-based quarantine, according to Sabah’s health authorities.
Based on the figures released by the authorities via the Sabah Housing and Local Government Ministry, 78.03% or 17,121 from the 22,133 infected people recorded from July 20 until August 11 are those under categories 1 and 2.
Category 1 refers to asymptomatic cases while category 2 refers to mild symptoms for Covid-19.
While most may have already completed their 14-day self-isolation periods following their diagnoses, fresh case numbers continue to increase steadily as Sabah has recorded daily numbers over the 1,000 threshold since July 30.
Today alone Sabah recorded a total of 1,514, fresh cases, its highest number yet, with most cases involving those under categories 1 and 2.
When contacted, Sabah Covid-19 spokesman Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun said most individuals opt to self-quarantine from home under the supervision of the Health Ministry despite being asked to undergo quarantine at low-risk quarantine centres statewide.
However, he pointed out the number of beds available in the low-risk quarantine centres across Sabah is at 4,637, which is clearly insufficient.
Home-based quarantine, The Vibes had learnt, was allowed to prevent the possibilty of overcrowding low-risk quarantine centres.
Masidi however did not respond to further queries on how health workers were going to supervise over 16,000 patients undergoing home-based quarantine. – The Vibes, August 11, 2021
