NEW COVID-19 CLUSTERS IN BEAUFORT, KUALA PENYU AND KOTA KINABALU

9 June 2021

By Wartawan Nabalu News

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah registered a total of two new Covid-19 clusters today involving the districts of Beaufort, Kuala Penyu and Kota Kinabalu, known as the Lot Sembilan Cluster and Jalan Wisma cluster.

The Lot Sembilan cluster which was detected in Beaufort and Kuala Penyu was first identified in Beaufort Hospital when the index case experienced symptoms and tested positive on May 24.

The index case is a 36-year-old male who works in the Kuala Penyu Branch Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM), said Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun.

"Close contact screening found 11 more positive cases among AIM staffers, including four of them who shuttle to work to the AIM office in Labuan.

"The infection has spread among family members and the cluster now recorded a cumulative total of 24 cases," he said.

Masidi added that the Health Offices in Beaufort and Kuala Penyu are now conducting a more comprehensive contact tracing to curb the transmission.

For the Jalan Wisma cluster in Kota Kinabalu, a total of seven employees of the B Bang Capsule Hotel were found to have tested positive for the virus.

"The index case is a 24-year-old cook who works in the hotel and has tested positive through symptomatic screening on June 4. He has been admitted to Queen Elizabeth Hospital for further treatment.

"Following the case, a total of 25 individuals have been screened with six of them tested positive, 12 tested negative, and the rest still awaiting results," he stated.

Based on initial investigation, the spread happened due to failure of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) adherence in the workplace.