KOTA KINABALU – The use of various iterations of the movement control order (MCO) in Sabah is showing positive results, said Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.
“Now, we are using the targeted enhanced MCO, as well as the enhanced MCO, in Sabah,” he said in his daily update today.
“With the (statewide) conditional MCO (CMCO), we have seen a decrease in cases in the east coast. However, the west coast is still seeing an acceleration in cases, so we need to step up our public health intervention there.
“In Sabah, from R0 2.2, we have managed to bring it down to 1.5. Today, it is 1.2, so that means there is a positive impact from the CMCO. If we can bring it down to 0.3, we can flatten the curve,” he said, referring to the measure of how contagious the disease is.
“We hope we are at the peak now. If we are at the peak, then give us another three to four weeks. We can bring the cases down to the double or single digits.”
The state recorded 410 fresh infections today, a sharp decrease from yesterday’s 927.
Dr Noor Hisham said the Health Ministry will continue to carry out virus screening and contact tracing as there are still 44 active clusters in Sabah.
He said testing labs in the state are working beyond capacity, resulting in delays, which is why there have been patients late to be admitted to quarantine centres.
“At the moment, the three labs in Sabah are already at overcapacity. Their usual capacity is 2,600 (tests), and now, they are doing 3,000 plus.
“What do you do with an individual who has been tested, but yet to receive their result? We cannot put them in a quarantine centre because if their test returns negative, they will be exposed to the virus. So, we advise them to stay home first.”
To overcome the backlog, he said, RTK Antigen kits are being used, as they yield results within 24 hours. – The Vibes, October 27, 2020
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