Sabah local government and housing minister Masidi Manjun said a majority of the new cases, as in the previous days, were recorded in the state capital, with 183 followed by Sandakan (102), Kinabatangan (92) and Tawau (90).
Asked if the healthcare system, particularly in Kota Kinabalu, is overwhelmed due to the consistent high numbers of patients daily, Masidi said the hospitals are managing the situation well at the moment.
“So far they can still cope because the overwhelming majority do not need hospitalisation,” he told FMT.
Masidi, who is Sabah’s official Covid-19 spokesman, said close contacts remain the biggest contributors to the new infections at 52.2%, or 527 cases, adding however, that symptomatic screenings have seen an increase to 22.2%, or 224 cases today.
“This category (symptomatic patients) involves sporadic infections where we don’t know where the source comes from.
“As previously mentioned, the rise in the number of sporadic infections means the virus is prevalent in the community and can easily spread.
“Therefore, the people are urged to follow all SOPs at all times in order not to be exposed to the risk of infection, especially those who have yet to be vaccinated,” he said.
Masidi said a new cluster, namely the Sangkabok cluster in southwestern Kuala Penyu district, was also detected today.
He added 146 of the cases today came from existing clusters, such as the Jalan Corak cluster in the Tongod interior district as well as the Pauh and Tinabau clusters in the east coast district of Kinabatangan.
Meanwhile, in Kelantan, the state government is hopeful that the number of daily Covid-19 cases will reduce in the next two weeks.
Bernama reported state local government, housing and health committee chairman Dr Izani Husin, as saying that the current increase in daily cases had been expected following the Hari Raya Haji celebration on July 20.
“Today, 10 days after the Raya Haji celebration, we see the cases drop slightly. We are expecting the cases to further decline in the next two weeks, especially with an increase in the vaccination rate,” he told reporters after inspecting a vaccination centre at the Kompleks Islam Jubli Perak, Panji near Kota Bharu.
According to Izani, 37% of Kelantan’s population have received the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, while 20% have been fully vaccinated.
He said Kelantan should hit the targeted 40% rate of those who are fully vaccinated at the end of August, in order to achieve herd immunity.
Kelantan recorded 552 new Covid-19 cases yesterday, taking its cumulative total to 44,005 cases. The total number of active clusters stands at 133.
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