[UPDATED] Sabah Covid-19 cases hit new high at 909, doubling up from yesterday

KOTA KINABALU – The number of Covid-19 cases in Sabah has shot up by a whopping 433 infections today, taking the daily caseloads to 909.

Sabah Covid-19 spokesman Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun in his Twitter update said the cases have “doubled up” from 476 reported yesterday.

“Four new clusters were also reported. All of them are schools. This includes SMK Bandau and SMK Tandek in Kota Marudu; SMK Mat Salleh, Ranau; and MRSM Tun Fuad.

“Sandakan recorded 185 new cases, followed by Penampang (115) and Kota Kinabalu (101),” he said.

Sabahans recently observed the Chinese New Year holidays and over the past weeks, the state has recorded between 300 and 400 cases a day.

Meanwhile, Sabah reported its highest cases in four months today, attributing to the spikes in three major districts: Penampang, Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan.

In the state’s daily Covid-19 briefing, its Covid-19 spokesperson Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun said Sandakan recorded the highest spike with 185 cases, up 92 cases from yesterday.

Penampang followed with 115 cases, up 44 new cases from yesterday, while Kota Kinabalu reported 101 cases, up 24 cases from yesterday.

“Infections with symptoms are also high in these three districts with Sandakan having 70 cases, Penampang 38 cases and Kota Kinabalu 56 cases,” he said in a statement tonight.

Masidi said 89 of the new cases are from nine active clusters, including the four new clusters reported earlier, which account 9.79% from the overall cases.

The first new cluster involved hostel students at the Mara Science College Tun Mohammad Fuad Stephens, which is called the Sungai Batang Batu Sepuluh cluster.

The index case involves a 16-year-old girl who was found positive on January 25. 

Screening on close contacts saw 49 new cases comprising dorm mates, students, teachers and her family members.

The Jalan Tandek cluster involved a SMK Tandek 1 hostel student, who showed symptoms on January 15 and was found positive on January 17.

34 others were also found positive via the close contact screening, said Masidi.

The third cluster involved a 17-year-old female student from SMK Bandau as the index case. 

She was found positive on January 19 after undergoing checks at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital here.

24 more hostel students, regular students and school staff were found positive following close contact screening, he said.

In the fourth cluster named Jalan Pendidikan Ranau cluster, a 19-year-old male student has been identified as the index case.

The Form 6 student began showing symptoms on January 29.

Further screening on close contacts revealed 24 more people had been infected, said Masidi. – The Vibes, February 4, 2022