Medical personnel collect swab test samples for Covid-19 screening. — Bernama photo
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah recorded 767 new Covid-19 infections on Sunday, a marginal decrease of 17 cases compared to Saturday.
Minister of Local Government and Housing Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun said Kota Kinabalu topped the list with 112 new cases, followed by Ranau (56), Keningau (55), Lahad Datu (53), Kota Belud (45) and Penampang (40).
Overall, he said 15 districts registered a decrease in cases, 11 districts saw a slight increase and one district, namely Kinabatangan, maintained its Saturday’s figure.
He said Ranau recorded a decrease of 21 cases, followed by Beluran -16 cases, Tenom -14 cases, Pitas -12 cases and Kunak -11 cases.
Meanwhile, Kota Kinabalu registered an increase of 33 cases, followed by Kudat +19 cases, Sipitang +12 cases and Papar +11 cases.
Masidi, who is Sabah’s Covid19 spokesperson, said close contact screenings remained the main contributor to the daily cases at 54.63 per cent.
Additionally, he said the 35.07 per cent from symptomatic screenings showed that the trend of infections in Sabah was no longer specific to certain localities, but had spread throughout the community.
Based on this analysis, he said the approach that relied entirely on frontliners and enforcement was no longer effective because no one could predict who are the virus carriers or infected persons.
“We need to come to terms with the reality that we have to live with the virus and the best practice is to comply with the standard operating procedures (SOPs), in addition to supporting the ongoing vaccination efforts.”
On another note, he said the data updating system for the late registration in daily infections was in good condition even though the number of backlog cases over four to five days had slightly increased compared to the day before.
Of the 767 new cases, 91.52 per cent fell under Category 1 and 2, five cases in Category 3, six in Category 4 and three in Category 5.