Health workers conduct Covid-19 case detection. — Bernama photo
KOTA KINABALU (Sept 23): Sabah recorded 1,629 new Covid-19 infections on Thursday, a significant increase of 430 cases from the day before.
A new cluster, named Batu 46 Tulid Cluster in Keningau, was also reported.
Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun said Ranau topped the list with 193 cases followed by Kinabatangan (167), Kota Kinabalu (153), Sandakan (121), Kota Marudu (114) and Keningau (102).
Overall, he said nine districts registered a decrease in Covid-19 cases, 15 districts saw an increase, three districts namely Tenom, Kalabakan and Kuala Penyu maintained Wednesday’s figures. Kuala Penyu recorded zero new case.
Masidi, who is Sabah’s Covid-19 spokesperson, said districts which experienced significant increase in cases were Ranau (+162), Kinabatangan (+137), Kota Marudu (+60), Keningau (+36), Kudat (+26), Tuaran (+24), Sipitang (+21), Sandakan (+19), Penampang (+15) and Kota Belud (+15).
“In Kinabatangan, 157 out of the 167 new cases come from three existing clusters in the district.”
He said Kota Kinabalu only registered a slight increase of three cases only.
He added that 29 of the new cases in Kota Kinabalu involved detainees and another 29 cases were offshore oil rig workers.
Meanwhile, Masidi said districts that showed obvious decrease in cases were Beluran (-25), Telupid (-23), Papar (-21), Tongod (-12) and Putatan (-11).
Detainees made up 35 cases on Thursday.
He said close contact screenings remained the highest contributor to the tally with 892 cases (54.8 per cent), followed by 385 cases (23.6 per cent) from symptomatic screenings, 194 cases (11.9 per cent) from cluster screenings, none from targeted screenings and 158 cases (9.7 per cent) from other screenings.
He added that 641 cases (39.35 per cent) were patients in Category 1, 847 cases (52 per cent) in Category 2, six cases in Category 3, eight cases each in Category 4 and 5, whereas 119 cases were still under investigation.
Of the 1,629 cases on Thursday, 413 cases (25.35 per cent) were reported between two to three days, 47 cases (2.89 per cent) between four to five days and 35 cases (2.15 per cent) were backlogs more than five days.