COVID: Family meal, funeral wake spark two clusters in Sabah

KOTA KINABALU: Two new COVID-19 clusters in two villages in Beaufort district have been traced back to community events where those in attendance failed to comply with the standard operating procedure (SOP).

Sabah Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun said Kampung Bawan cluster was sparked by a 31-year-old health officer who was confirmed positive on Oct 7 during a family get-together at his family home.

Meanwhile, the Kampung Batu 66 cluster was sparked by a woman, 36, who was confirmed positve on Oct 8 and is linked to her father's wake in the village, which was attended by relatives and neighbours.

"Kampung Bawan cluster is a workplace cluster involving a government clinic with 34 infection cases, the majority being the index case's family members and work colleagues, while the Kampung Batu 66 cluster is a community cluster with 29 cases drawn from family members and people who attended the wake," he said in a statement last night.

Sabah recorded 651 new COVID-19 positive cases today, with 361 cases or 55.45 per cent of them detected from close contact screenings, 228 cases or 35.02 per cent from symptomatic screenings and the remainder from other types of screenings, he said.

The total COVID-19 cases in the state is currently 212,329, while 541 recoveries were recorded yesterday, bringing the state's total to 201,466 recoveries so far.

-- BERNAMA