Kota Kinabalu: The State Government has yet to make any ruling on those who have not had their booster doses, said Sabah’s Covid-19 spokesperson Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun (pic).
He said this when asked about cases involving fully vaccinated elderly persons who refuse booster shots but are afraid of being denied access to supermarkets after March 1.
“We have not made any ruling on the non-boosted person,” he said.
Currently, Sabah’s standard operating procedures is that only fully vaccinated people are allowed inside restaurants, supermarkets and hypermarkets.
As of Monday, a total of 2,098,427 adults in Sabah are fully vaccinated. It is not immediately established how many have gone for their booster jab.
Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin recently announced that persons aged 60 and more, as well as all recipients of the Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine, must get booster shots by March 1 or risk losing their fully vaccinated status.
Their MySejahtera digital certificate will turn white instead of yellow, and there will be limits at the country’s exit points, according to Khairy.
Meanwhile, Masidi said sporadic infections are becoming a worrying trend in almost all of Sabah’s districts, as cases continue to rise with a record-breaking high of 5,082 cases on Wednesday.
Amid the surge, two more education clusters were identified while fatalities are beginning to increase, with nine deaths recorded in Sabah on Wednesday.
“Kota Kinabalu topped the list with 1,086 cases, with nearly 60 per cent being sporadic infections. What is worrying is that sporadic infections are already a trend in almost all districts. 59.6 per cent of the caseload are in this category. This statistic indicates that cases will multiply rapidly.
“The State Health Department will face difficulty in tracing any index cases to identify their close contacts, which is done to curb further spread of the virus,” said Masidi.
On the two education clusters, Masidi said they were identified in Kota Marudu and Ranau, named as the Jalan Bandau Cluster and Jalan Sokid Cluster respectively. The Jalan Bandau Cluster involved hostel students at SMK Kota Marudu 1, stemming from an 18-year-old local student who was tested positive on Feb 9.
“Screening on close contacts among his roommates and schoolmates found another 95 positive, bringing the tally in this cluster to 96 as of Feb 16,” said Masidi
The Jalan Sokid Cluster was identified in SMK Bundu Tuhan, which was sparked by a 24-year-old local male contract worker at the school who tested positive on Feb 4.
“Contact screenings found another 27 positive, bringing the tally in this cluster to 28,” said Masidi, adding that the State Health Department has officially ended the Kem Bina Cluster in Ranau as it is no longer active. There are 39 active clusters in Sabah to date,” he said.
On the caseload, Masidi said 12 districts recorded three-digit cases, namely Sandakan (500), Penampang (463), Tuaran (421), Papar (313), Tawau (310), Ranau (266), Lahad Datu (263), Putatan (222), Kota Marudu (216), Keningau (181), Beaufort (144) and Kota Belud (137).
“Some 13 districts recorded two-digit cases while Kalabakan is the only district that did not record any new infections,” he added. Masidi said the majority of cases are mild, 5,068 out of 5,082 of cases being category one and two infections, which is 99.72 per cent.
“There are three cases in category three, 10 in category four and one in category five,” he added.
Some 1,211 Covid-19 patients have been discharged from the hospital while 2,962 patients are currently receiving treatment at hospitals, low risk quarantine and treatment centres (PKRCs), prisons/temporary detention centres and private facilities.
On Sabah’s immunisation programme, Masidi said 9,673 individuals were vaccinated on Feb 15, of which 7,872 were adults while 82 were teenagers and 1,719 were children.
As of Feb 15, he said a total of 2,412,008 individuals have completed both doses, of which 77.25 per cent were adults, while 2,469,756 have gotten their first dose, of which 77.97 per cent were adults.
Masidi added that a total of 338,058 teenagers have received their first dose, while 313,399 have completed both doses, which is 73.53 per cent of the teenage population. A total of 13,621 children have received their first dose.
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