KOTA KINABALU – Sabah’s rising Covid-19 cases, which today hit 1,066, proves that the virus is highly infectious, said the state’s Covid-19 spokesman Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun.
He said community infections are already being detected and it is spreading mostly from one circle of friends to another, creating a multiplier effect. He said that this would lead to more positive cases being detected in mass screenings.
“Close contacts have become the highest in daily cases and today accounted for 60% of the new cases.
“Lockdowns will no longer be effective to curb the infections when the coronavirus is already within the community. Without realising, all of us may be carriers of the virus, whether vaccinated or not.
“Everyone of us is now a potential virus carrier and thus can infect others around us even in lockdown areas,” he said in a statement here today.
Previously, lockdowns were the most effective way to isolate localised cases, but the adverse impact was that it nearly crippled the state’s economy.
He pointed out that many companies have been forced to shut down due to financial losses, leading to people losing their jobs and becoming dependent on government assistance.
“They want to work and sustain their families. But the government also has limited resources to provide aid and subsidies,” he said.
The Karanaan assemblyman said the only way for the people to weather the pandemic is to adhere to public health standard operating procedures and increased vaccinations.
“The state Health Department has already reached the capacity to carry out 50,000 inoculations per day and will increase to 60,000 doses per day, depending on vaccine stocks,” Masidi said, while expressing hope that supplies would not be disrupted. – The Vibes, July 30, 2021
