KOTA KINABALU – Sabah will reopen its district borders according to zone soon, said Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun (Karanaan-Bersatu).
In his winding-up speech in the state assembly today, he said the state will implement the six-zone system like it did last year.
“The easing of restrictions will apply only to districts that have reached a rate of 60% of residents being fully vaccinated.
“We need to have a strict approach. If you don’t get vaccinated, you will have to stay in your kampung forever. We must move on. We cannot be ‘imprisoned’ by Covid-19 forever.
“This is a joint decision after discussions with Sabah Health Department director Dr Rose Nani Mudin. We have decided to implement controlled liberalisation in stages as a way forward, as Sabah has reached over 60% of its adult population being fully vaccinated.
“I have also proposed the lifting of the ban on inter-district travel after Sabah achieves a 70% fully vaccinated rate.”
The said six zones are:
Zone 1 – Kota Kinabalu, Kota Belud, Ranau, Tuaran, Penampang, Putatan and Papar;
Zone 2 – Beaufort, Kuala Penyu and Sipitang;
Zone 3 – Kudat, Kota Marudu and Pitas;
Zone 4 – Sandakan, Beluran, Kinabatangan and Tongod;
Zone 5 – Tawau, Semporna, Lahad Datu, Kunak and Kalabakan; and,
Zone 6 – Keningau, Tambunan and Tenom.
Masidi, who is also Sabah Covid-19 spokesman, said the state’s immunisation rate may be higher than what is reflected in the statistics, as the figure does not include Sabahans working in the peninsula and who receive their jab there.
“The Statistics Department has given a figure of 2,758,400 as Sabah’s population aged 18 and above. However, based on the food baskets that we have distributed to the heads of families of Sabahans in Peninsular Malaysia, there were 171,963 families.
“This is a massive number of Sabahans who have been inoculated in the peninsula, and most of them are in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Johor.
“So, we will have to update this figure from time to time, as the current vaccination rate in Sabah does not reflect the true picture.”
He said the inoculation rate by district may also be inaccurate, as residents of Papar may have been inoculated in Kota Kinabalu, for example.
To a question by former chief minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal (Senallang-Warisan) on the need for Sabah factories to get permission from the International Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti) to operate, Masidi said this is not the case.
“We have already made a decision and announced that local authorities will have the exclusive right to decide whether a factory can open. Factories in the state do not need to get a letter or permission from Miti.”
He added that he has dispatched personnel from other government departments to assist in Covid-19 management to clear the backlog of case data as soon as possible.
Currently, the reported Covid-19 infections and deaths do not reflect only cases over the last 24 hours, as they may include those that occurred days, or even weeks, ago, he said.
“We will speed this up, and hopefully, when the backlog is cleared, we will be able to provide real-time data to the public.” –The Vibes, September 23, 2021
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