New Covid-19 clusters emerge in Papar, Kinabatangan

22 July 2021

By Wartawan Nabalu News

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah today registered two new Covid-19 clusters, one each in Papar and Kinabatangan, involving community and workplace infections.

In a statement today, Local Government and Housing Datuk Masidi Manjun said the Kebun Lama cluster in Papar was first detected in Kota Kinabalu

"The index case is a 33-year-old factory worker who tested positive on July 14 through a ship sign-on Covid-19 screening test.

"Close contact screening to 35 individuals have been conducted and out of the total, 26 people tested positive, bringing the cumulative total of the cluster to 27 cases,” he said, adding that one close contact had also tested positive in Papar on July 17.

“Meanwhile, eight samples tested negative, and one is still awaiting results," he added.

Based on early investigation, Masidi said it was believed a funeral ceremony on June 6 in Kg Kabang was the trigger of an increased number of cases among family members

This was followed by a five-day tahlil ceremony which was attended by 60 people in Kg Nagapas, Papar.

In Kalabakan, infection in the Kuril cluster first occurred in a plantation farm in Sukau, Kinabatangan. The cluster now has a cumulative number of 12 cases.

The index case of the cluster is a 26-year-old farm driver who tested positive in a private clinic on July 15.

“Close contact screening found 11 positive cases involving the index case’s family members and farmworkers.

“Further investigation on the source of infection, close contact screening and disinfection are still being conducted in order to evaluate the risk of contagion to nearby farmworkers,” Masidi stated.