KOTA KINABALU: Sabah recorded 228 new positive Covid-19 cases on Sunday, which brought the tally to 70,457, said Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun.
He said Kota Kinabalu registered the highest infections with 120 new cases, which was caused by a new cluster dubbed Bahtera Barat Cluster with 18 cumulative cases, including five new cases reported on Sunday, close contact screenings (18), targeted screenings at Kg Pondo (30) and Kg Laban (62) at Pulau Gaya, symptomatic screening (4) and other screening (1).
Meanwhile, Beaufort recorded 24 cases, followed by Putatan (19), Tawau (18) and Kota Belud (12).
“Kinabatangan was reclassified from orange to red zone,” he said.
Masidi, who is Sabah’s Covid-19 spokesperson, said the Bahtera Barat Cluster in Kota Kinabalu involved Covid-19 transmissions at Sapura Erb West oil rig.
The index case is a 31-year-old male staff at the oil rig who did not show any symptoms but was tested positive during the ship’s sign-off screening procedure on June 8 while undergoing mandatory quarantine at a hotel in the state capital.
He said the team who carried out contact tracing and targeted screening in the locality had identified 162 employees of the company.
“Of the 301 samples taken, including repeat samples, 17 were found to be positive, including the five new cases today, which brings the cumulative total under the cluster to 18 cases.
“The remaining 283 samples were negative.”
On the other hand, Masidi said 120 Covid-19 patients have been discharged from hospitals or recovered, while 1,769 were still undergoing treatment, including 398 in hospitals, 1,163 at Low-Risk Quarantine and Treatment Centres and 208 at temporary detention centre or prison.
“There are 56 patients in intensive care units and 17 require ventilators.”