KOTA KINABALU: Sabah recorded 1,665 new Covid-19 infections on Sunday, with close contact screenings contributing 915 cases or 55 per cent of the total.
Three clusters were also reported, namely Tangkuyan Cluster in Kinabatangan (129 cases), Paka Kawiyan in Ranau (41 cases) and Segama Batu 1 Cluster in Lahad Datu (18 cases).
Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun said the daily caseload had decreased by 87 due to a significant reduction of 229 cases in Kota Kinabalu.
However, he said the downward trend would not stay constant because new infections would cause the daily cases to fluctuate.
Masidi, who is Sabah’s Covid-19 spokesperson, added positive cases in Sandakan had doubled to 244, 65.2 per cent of which were contributed by close contact screenings.
Kinabatangan also recorded a drastic increase from 15 cases on Saturday to 152 cases on Sunday as a result of screenings among residents under the Tangkuyan Cluster.
Of the 1,665 cases on Sunday, Tawau registered 245 cases, followed by Sandakan 244, Kota Kinabalu 207, Kinabatangan 152, Penampang 128, Papar 107, Kota Belud 76, Keningau 69, Tuaran 56, Beluran 46, Tongod 44, Tambunan 34, Lahad Datu 34, Putatan 30, Sipitang 29, Telupid 25, Kota Marudu 23, Kalabakan 22, Nabawan 18, Beaufort 18, Ranau 16, Semporna 15, Tenom 13, Kunak 8, Kudat 3, Pitas 2 and Kuala Penyu 1.
He said close contact screenings contributed 55 per cent of the daily infections, followed by symptomatic screenings with 390 cases (23.4 per cent) and 226 cases from clusters (14 per cent).
He added that 37 per cent of the cases in Kota Kinabalu were detected through symptomatic screenings, 31.4 per cent in Tawau, 41.4 per cent in Penampang and 44.6 per cent in Tuaran.
Masidi said 386 of the new patients (24.2 per cent) were in Category 1, 751 (45.1 per cent) in Category 2, eight in Category 3, two in Category 4 and one in Category 5, while the remaining 517 patients (31 per cent) were still under investigation.
As of Saturday (August 14), he said 45.4 per cent of the adult population in Sabah have received their first dose of vaccine and 21.7 per cent have completed two doses.
“The percentage of fully vaccinated recipients is expected to increase next week when more people take their second dose of the vaccine.”