State health director Dr Christina Rundi, in a short text message, denied the rumours spread over WhatsApp.
“Not true,” she said when asked about the claims made in several chat groups of the messaging app.
The viral message read: “Just received confirmed news that KK (Kota Kinabalu) already encountered the first case of the Indian Covid-19 variant. Please be alert.”
Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah had said 56 cases of variants of concern (VOC) had been reported in the country as well as three variants of interest. One such case involved the B.1.617.1 double mutation strain from India.
The World Health Organization had earlier this week said that the Covid-19 variant, first identified in India last year, was being classified as a variant of global concern, with some preliminary studies showing that it spreads more easily.
The government has imposed a temporary ban on flights to and from India to prevent the spread of the new variant, starting April 28.
Following that, the Sabah government also placed a similar restriction on anyone travelling into the state from India, France, the US, Brazil and the African continent.
The state subsequently added travellers from Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka on the list to prevent virus variants from entering Sabah.
Meanwhile, Sabah’s Covid-19 spokesman Masidi Manjun tweeted that the state has recorded 60 new infections in the last 24 hours. He said there are 50 new cases from existing clusters.
“KK tops the list with 18 cases from three clusters followed by Tawau with 15, mostly from the Kongsi 8 cluster,” he said, adding that other districts recorded only single-digit cases, with no infections at all in 15 districts.
“Keep the Raya holidays Covid-free,” he added.
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