TWO NEW COVID-19 CLUSTERS DETECTED IN KUNAK, TAWAU

17 May 2021

By Wartawan Nabalu News

KOTA KINABALU: Two new Covid-19 clusters have emerged in Sabah today, one each in Kunak and Tawau, with a cumulative total of 30 cases.

The Sungai Langgas cluster in Kunak was first detected among the Kg Langgas community, said Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun.

"The index case was the daughter of an Imam at the Al-Mansa Mosque who tested positive through symptomatic screening at the Kunak Hospital on May 4.

"Close contact screening found five of her family members, including the index’s father, to have contracted the virus.

“The second screening has also found 11 more positive cases, namely two cases from contact screening and nine from targeted screening,” he said in a statement today.

Unfortunately, two more positive cases were also recorded at the Fever Center Hospital in Kunak on May 10, bringing a cumulative total of positive cases in the cluster to 19.

Based on initial investigation, the index case is believed to have contracted the virus from his father which he later spread to other congregations.

Meanwhile, the Jalan Imam Jalilul cluster in Tawau was first detected through a 31-year-old teacher from SK Pasir Putih who is living in the SMK Pasir Putih quarters.

Masidi stated that the index case has undergone symptomatic screening and tested positive on May 7.

“Of the 32 close contacts screened, 10 individuals tested positive, which two cases detected at SMK Pasir Putih quarters, six in Kg Tanjung Batu Darat, and two in Taman Semarak. This brings the cumulative total of cases in the cluster to 11.

“Early investigation found out that the index was infected during iftar at his brother’s house at Jalan Imam Jalilil, Tg batu Darat on May 2.

"Besides that, the infection had spread likely because the index case usually performed terawih prayers at the Jideen Mosque near Tanjung Batu Darat," he said.

To date, close contact screening and investigation of the cause of infection is still being carried out.