Two new clusters in Sabah, one triggered by Hari Raya celebration

Sabah recorded two new clusters yesterday, one triggered by a senior citizen who celebrated Aidilfitri with her children in Penampang on May 15.

Sabah Local Government and Housing Minister Masidi Manjun said in a statement that a 68-year-old woman was the index case of the Taman Deluxe cluster in Penampang.

He said the woman, who is from Kampung Bubul Batu 2, Semporna, had crossed districts to celebrate Hari Raya with her children before testing positive for Covid-19 following a symptomatic screening on May 19.

“As of 12 noon, 12 out of 14 people screened from this cluster tested positive… preliminary investigations are being carried out to determine the cause of the infection,” he said.

The second cluster, in Kampung Padawan in Papar, was detected on May 22 at the Inanam health clinic following a symptomatic screening, with the index case being a 50-year-old woman from Kampung Dambai, Inanam, who tested positive with her three children.

“Following that, six more family members of the index case tested positive, taking the total to 10. Concerned about the risk, 36 RTK-Ag screening tests were carried out at a private clinic as an initiative by the close contacts and family members of the index case,” he said.

Masidi said the Papar district health office had also carried out 113 RT PCR screening tests on other close contacts. According to preliminary information, they are believed to have been infected during a funeral in Kampung Padawan on May 17.

The funeral was also attended by close family members from several districts who failed to comply with SOPs for three days, including by getting together for dinner, he said.

Meanwhile, Masidi said Sabah recorded 184 new cases yesterday, taking the total number of infections to 60,562, while 88 patients were discharged, bringing the number of recoveries to 58,798.

He also said the state government had decided that restaurants, shops and food stalls in the state would be allowed to operate until 10pm.

Previously, shops and food stalls were only allowed to operate until 9pm while restaurants could open until 10pm.