KOTA KINABALU: The State Government has temporarily banned the entry of all individuals from Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka into Sabah effective on May 3 in view of the spread of a new Variant of Concern (VoC) in several countries that contributed to a steep rise in Covid-19 cases.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Hajiji Noor said the Sabahans, their spouse and children would be exempted from the entry ban.
“However, they are required to abide by the 14-day mandatory quarantine in gazetted quarantine stations,” he said in a statement on Sunday.
He added that ship crews with travel history to Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the past 14 days would not be allowed to carry out the ‘signoff’ procedure in Sabah, unless the crew is a Malaysian and must undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine order.
Sabah has earlier barred the entry of nationals from India, France, America, Africa and Brazil in view of the Covid-19 variant, said to originate from India, which is causing concern.
On another note, Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun said Sabah recorded 115 new Covid-19 positive cases on Sunday, which brought the cumulative cases to 58,315.
No new casualty or cluster was reported.
He said Kinabatangan recorded 28 new cases, followed by Kota Kinabalu (25), Tawau (20), Tuaran (9), Kunak (6), Lahad Datu (6), Kalabakan (6), Papar (5), Penampang (4), Sandakan (3), Semporna (2) and Putatan (1).
Masidi, who is also Sabah’s official Covid-19 spokesperson, said Beluran had been reclassified to green zone from yellow zone previously.
Of the 115 new cases, he said 49 cases (42.6 percent) were detected from close contact screening, 13 cases (11.3 percent) from symptomatic screening, 50 cases (43.5 percent) from existing clusters and three cases (2.6 percent) from other categories.
On the other hand, he said 94 Covid-19 patients have recovered or discharged from hospitals, whereas 677 patients were still undergoing treatment, including 276 in hospitals and 4,401 in Low-Risk Quarantine and Treatment Centres.
“There are 37 patients in intensive care units and 16 require ventilators,” he added.
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