Sandakan district police chief Mohd Azhar Hamin (second right) checking the MySejahtera record of a market visitor during an inspection on Tuesday.-Bernama photo
SANDAKAN: Sandakan could break away from its current red zone status if it records less than five new Covid-19 cases a day.
In working out the maths, Sandakan Area Health Officer Dr Johari Awang Besar said it was unlikely that the Sabah east coast district would record no new cases following the Aidilfitri and Kaamatan or Harvest Festival celebrations last month.
“But we can do a lot better in being aware of how important it is to take the extra mile to protect ourselves and our families against infection now that the celebrations are over.
“For now, the situation is manageable. But we are still a long way from being declared a green zone, that is with zero active cases,” he told Bernama when contacted here on Tuesday.
Dr Johari was responding to many Sandakan folks’ astonishment when it was announced that the district recorded the highest number of new Covid-19 cases in the state on Monday.
There are no more active clusters nor targeted areas that had fallen under an Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO) in Sandakan.
Dr Johari gave the assurance that none of Monday’s 36 new cases were related to any active cluster in the state and that all the new cases were mainly close contacts of previous cases.
“The increase in yesterday’s numbers was due to the results of the Covid-19 Polimerase Chain Reaction (PCR) swab tests that had come out after a couple of days of testing.
“However, there is no need to be alarmed as everything was done in a controlled manner and all of the cases are observing quarantine procedures at the Covid-19 Quarantine and Low-Risk Treatment Centre (PKRC) and are wearing quarantine bracelets,” he said.
He said that of the 36 new cases, 34 were close contacts of previous cases, while the other two cases were detected during a pre-admission screening into the Duchess of Kent Hospital.
“We (Sandakan Area Health Office) appeal to the public to always observe the standard operating procedures such as wearing masks, washing or sanitising of hands, and keeping a metre distance when meeting or speaking to people.
“We must always have that sense of care towards the people around us, especially our family members.
Insya-Allah (God willing), we (Sandakan) will be declared a green zone soon enough,” he added.
As of Monday, Sandakan recorded 135 active cases. – Bernama