Kota Kinabalu: Sabah’s Covid-19 spokesperson Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun said 66.8 per cent of the 497 cases recorded in Sabah on Saturday were those fully vaccinated.
“This high figure is worrying as it reflects the negligent and complacent attitude of most fully vaccinated individuals when it comes to complying with the standard operating procedures (SOPs).
“They probably assume that they are immune to virus transmissions after completing their vaccination.
“However, it is reminded that the vaccine does not give us 100 per cent protection against infection.
“It only protects our bodies from contracting serious Covid-19 infections which require hospital treatment and critical care,” he said Saturday.
He added that this is evidenced by the statistics which indicate that 98 per cent of cases are category one and two infections that do not require hospital treatment.
“But it must be remembered that no matter the category, every patient is a definite virus carrier and can infect other family members in the household,” he stressed.
He added that symptomatic cases remained high with 36.2 per cent of cases being sporadic infections, which are detected when a person suffers from Covid-19 symptoms and undergoes screening.
“It is hard to determine the index case of symptomatic cases and the location of where the transmission occurred.
“What is certain is that the transmission occurred due to negligence in SOP-compliance such as physical distancing or using a face mask,” he said.
Sabah’s cases dipped significantly to 497 on Saturday from 611 the day earlier, while five deaths were recorded throughout Sabah – one each in Keningau, Kota Belud, Kota Kinabalu, Kudat and Pitas.
On the caseload, Masidi said Kota Kinabalu topped the list with 80 cases, followed by Tuaran (61), Penampang (42), Kota Marudu (35), Papar (33), Ranau (30), Tenom (29), Kota Belud (23), Keningau (22) and Beaufort (19).
“Most districts recorded a decrease except for a few districts such as Penampang, Papar and Tenom which registered a relatively high increase. Only Kota Kinabalu and Tuaran recorded cases above the 50 mark,” he said.
Masidi said only eight cases are serious infections which require hospital treatment and critical care, with four in category three, three in category four and one in category five.
Another five are being evaluated by the State Health Department.
Some 545 Covid-19 patients have been discharged from the hospital while 1,659 patients are currently receiving treatment at hospitals, low-risk quarantine and treatment centres (PKRCs), prisons/temporary detention centres and private facilities
Masidi said 69 patients are under critical care, with 65 in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU)/repurposed critical care as well as four in the open ward (high dependency ward (HDW)/acute cubicle), with 21 needing ventilator support.
“Some 66 stage four and five patients (36.07 per cent) have not completed their vaccinations,” he added. Sabah’s bed capacity is at 5,986 units with an occupancy rate of 27.71 per cent, he said.
On Sabah’s immunisation programme, Masidi said 6,248 individuals were vaccinated on Nov 12, of which 5,081 were adults and 1,167 were teenagers.
“As of Nov 12, some 2,433,688 individuals have completed their first dose, of which 76.20 per cent were adults. Some 2,372,264 individuals have completed both doses of the vaccine, of which 75.16 per cent were adults,” he said. He added that 331,701 teenagers have received their first dose, whereas 299,049 teenagers have been fully vaccinated thus far.
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