Sabah records four new Covid-19 clusters involving five districts

27 July 2021

By Wartawan Nabalu News

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah registered four new Covid-19 clusters today involving several districts.

Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun said that the Jalan Penampang cluster in Penampang was categorised as a workplace infection.

According to him, the cluster involves workers from a supermarket in Jalan Penampang, Pekan Koidupan.

“The index case is a 25-year-old female cashier who tested positive on July 26 through a symptomatic screening.

“Unfortunately, close contact screening identified 28 more individuals testing positive, with most of them among the index case’s colleagues and family members,” he said in a press statement today.

Following the increased number of cases, the cumulative total number of the cluster now stands at 29 cases.

In Tawau, the Inderasabah cluster happened through a community infection in the Balung locality.

The index case is a 30-year-old palm plantation worker who tested positive on July 24 after exhibiting symptoms since July 14.

Masidi noted that before the incident, the index case resided with 13 other family members at Kg Darat, Tawau.

“Besides close contact screening, two out of three individuals also tested positive through social contact screenings at Block C, PPR Taman Sri Apas.

"As for now, 14 out of 17 close contacts detected positive including 11 new cases today.

“Further investigation on the cause of infection is still actively being conducted to locate more individuals related to the cluster,” he stated.

In Kudat, the Jeti Kudat cluster also involves workplace infections with a cumulative total of 44 positive cases.

According to Masidi, the cluster was first detected through symptomatic screening after the index case, a 51-year-old foreigner who works as a merchant at Kudat jetty, tested positive on July 15.

“Following the increased number of positive cases in Kudat Jetty, Kudat Health Office has conducted targeted screening on all individuals involved in business and fishing activities on July 21-26. A total of 237 samples were collected.

“Further investigation on the cause of infection, close contact screening and disinfection are still actively being conducted,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Industri Kolombong cluster involves Kota Kinabalu, Penampang and Tuaran.

Masidi explained that the cluster is also categorised as a workplace infection in a cooking oil warehouse in Kolombong.

“The index case is a 26-year-old assistant driver who tested positive after experiencing symptoms since July 17. He then was brought to the quarantine centre for further treatment.

“Health officers conducted close contact screening and found 23 individuals tested positive. Besides that, the cluster also involved several districts with eight cases registered in Kota Kinabalu, 12 cases in Penampang and three cases in Tuaran,” he added.