Sabah mulls mandatory self-test
Published on: Friday, November 12, 2021
By:
Ricardo Unto, Anthea Peter
Kota Kinabalu: Sabah is considering to include Covid-19 self-test as an entry requirement for individuals travelling to the State, said Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun.Masidi, who is also State Covid-19 spokesperson, said he had asked the Sabah Covid-19 Disaster Management Committee to study the proposal.
ADVERTISEMENT
Individuals from Sarawak and the peninsula are currently required to undergo reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) or antigen rapid test kit (RTK-Ag) tests three days before entering Sabah, aside from being fully vaccinated.
Individuals from Labuan, however, do not need to undertake any of the tests to enter the State. On the reasons for different entry requirements, Masidi said it is not a matter of double standard.
“This is due to our worries that the situation in Sabah is still unstable as the daily cases are fluctuating like a yo-yo,” he said after launching the Kojasa Mart at the Suria Inanam commercial centre, here, Thursday.
“I think we have not reached the level of confidence to allow everyone enter Sabah without any requirement except for being fully vaccinated.”
ADVERTISEMENT
However, he assured that the Sabah Covid-19 Disaster Management Committee will always work to find ways to facilitate travels.
Meanwhile, the upward trend of Sabah’s daily Covid-19 cases continued marginally to 579 on Thursday from 573 the day earlier.
ADVERTISEMENT
Masidi said 12 deaths were recorded throughout the State – two each in Kota Belud, Beaufort, Tambunan and Putatan and one each in Lahad Datu, Keningau, Kudat and Tuaran.
He added that sporadic infections still remain high, with 228 being symptomatic cases which accounts for 39.4 per cent of the caseload. 311 are close contacts.
Masidi said Kota Kinabalu topped the list with 54 cases, followed by Tuaran (53), Kota Belud (49), Beaufort (44), Ranau (41), Penampang (39), Tambunan (35), Kota Marudu (32) and Papar (31).
“Districts recording a significant increase include Penampang (+20), Tambunan (+17), Tawau (+14), Sipitang (+13), Kota Belud (+12) and Tenom (+10).
“Districts with significant decrease include Kota Kinabalu (-31), Beaufort (-16), Putatan (-15) and Kuala Penyu (-10),” he said in a statement, Thursday, adding that 22 districts recorded cases below the 40 mark.
Masidi said 358 or 61.8 per cent of cases were registered within the day earlier, while the remaining 37.65 per cent were cases overdue between two to five days. Three cases were overdue for over five days.
“Patients in serious categories that require hospital treatment remain low. Only one patient is in category three, five in category four and one in category five.
“Some 97.93 per cent of cases are in category one (76) and category two (491). Five cases are still being evaluated by the State Health Department,” he said.
Some 401 Covid-19 patients have been discharged from the hospital while 1,703 patients are currently receiving treatment at hospitals, low risk quarantine and treatment centres (PKRCs), prisons/temporary detention centres and private facilities
Masidi said 79 patients are under critical care, with 73 in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU)/repurposed critical care as well as six in the open ward (high dependency ward (HDW)/acute cubicle), with 21 needing ventilator support.
“Some 83 stage four and five patients (39.71 per cent) have not completed their vaccinations,” he added.
Sabah’s bed capacity is at 5,982 units with an occupancy rate of 28.47 per cent, he said.
On Sabah’s immunisation programme, Masidi 8,355 individuals were vaccinated on Nov 10, of which 6,675 were adults and 1,680 were teenagers.
“As of Nov 10, some 2,432,506 individuals have completed their first dose, of which 76.17 per cent were adults. Some 2,368,589 individuals have completed both doses of the vaccine, of which 75.09 per cent were adults,” he said.
He added that 331,305 teenagers have received their first dose, whereas 297,180 teenagers have been fully vaccinated thus far.
Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
Daily Express Malaysia
