Kota Kinabalu: The State Government has granted permission to three temples (kuil) in Sabah to conduct prayer ceremonies in conjunction with the Thaipusam celebration Thursday.
However, the carrying of “kavadis” and processions are not allowed.
Sabah’s Covid-19 spokesperson Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun said the three temples are Sri Sitti Vinayagar Temple in Sandakan, Sri Thirumurugan Temple in Tawau and Sri Subramaniar at the Lok Kawi Camp in Putatan.
“Permission is granted subject to compliance with the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) set by the National Security Council and State Authorities.
Sabah recorded another educational institute cluster in Ranau named as the Puri Ranau Cluster which saw a total of seven infections among students in SMK Ranau.
Masidi said the index case is a 19-year-old female student who tested positive via self-test screening after experiencing symptoms.
“Screenings on her classmates and roommates found another six students positive. All cases are category one and two infections and have been segregated as well as given suitable treatment,” he said.
Sabah’s cases rose to 201 on Tuesday from 163 the day earlier while one death was recorded in Tuaran.
He said 79 cases were sporadic infections while 105 were close contacts, which indicate a lack of standard operating procedure (SOP) compliance among the community.
On the caseload, Kota Kinabalu topped the list with 42 cases followed by Tuaran (37), Penampang (18), Sandakan (14), Tawau (14), Keningau (13), Tambunan (12) and Ranau (10).
“Nine districts recorded two-digit cases, with Kota Kinabalu and Tuaran’s cases above the 20 mark. 10 districts recorded single-digit cases and eight districts did not record any new cases.
“Four districts recorded a double digit increase, namely Tuaran (+31), Tawau (+12), Tambunan (+12) and Sandakan (+11) while districts recording a double digit decrease include Penampang (-16), Putatan (-13) and Ranau (-10),” said Masidi.
Masidi said 196 out of 201 cases were category one and two infections, while four cases are in category three and one case in category four. There are no category five infections.
Some 174 Covid-19 patients have been discharged from the hospital while 674 patients are currently receiving treatment at hospitals, low risk quarantine and treatment centres (PKRCs), prisons/temporary detention centres and private facilities.
Masidi said 31 patients are under critical care with 27 in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU)/repurposed critical care and four in the open ward while nine patients needed ventilator support.
On Sabah’s immunisation programme, Masidi said 12,631 individuals were vaccinated on Jan 17, of which 12,510 were adults and 120 were teenagers.
“Some 2,452,753 individuals have completed their first dose, of which 76.70 per cent were adults. Some 2,408,387 individuals have completed both doses of the vaccine, of which 75.99 per cent were adults.
He added that 336,973 teenagers have received their first dose, whereas 312,356 teenagers have been fully vaccinated thus far, which is 71.97 per cent of the teenage population.
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