KOTA KINABALU: Sabah recorded a significant drop in new Covid-19 cases to 751 on Monday, the lowest since July 27.
The figure marked a decrease of 327 from 1,078 cases on Sunday.
Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun said 18 districts recorded a drop in infections, six saw an increase and three districts maintained their Sunday’s figures.
He said the main urban areas also showed a positive trend with declining Covid-19 cases, except for Kota Kinabalu with 140 (+17) cases and Semporna 12 (+1) cases.
Among the six districts which registered an increase in infections, only Kinabatangan recorded a significant rise of 51 to 67 cases, due to 46 new cases from two existing clusters in the district.
The 18 districts that reported an obvious drop in cases were Lahad Datu 50 (-81), Ranau 17 (-52), Keningau 51 (-51), Kota Marudu 27 (-34), Penampang 36 (-28), Nabawan 14 (-25), Sandakan 60 (-21) , Pitas 19 (-20), Kudat 7 (-15), Putatan 21 (-13), Tawau 29 (-12), Tongod 2 (-12), Tuaran 46 (-11) and Tambunan 2 (-10).
Of the 751 cases, Masidi said 302 cases (40.21 per cent) were registered between two and three days, 30 cases (3.99 per cent) were reported between four and five days and nine cases (1.2 per cent) were backlogs recorded five days after the screening results were known.
He said the cases on Monday involved 20 detainees and seven offshore oil rig workers.
Masidi, who is Sabah’s Covid-19 spokesperson, said close contact screenings remained the highest contributor to the daily number with 366 cases (48.7 per cent), followed by 232 cases (30.9 per cent) from symptomatic screenings, 46 cases (6.1 per cent) from cluster screenings, one case (0.1 per cent) from targeted screenings and 106 cases (14.1 per cent) from other screenings.
“Symptomatic cases, also known as sporadic infections, are often linked to failure in complying with the standard operating procedures (SOPs) and personal healthcare.”
He stressed that SOP compliance was key to prevent Covid-19 infections.
He added that 254 cases (33.82 per cent) were under Category 1, 454 cases (60.45 per cent) under Category 2, five cases under Category 3, seven under Category 4 and four under Category 5, while 27 cases were still under investigation.