Sabah govt urges for statewide CMCO to be extended

KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah government has requested the National Security Council (MKN) to extend the state-wide Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) which is scheduled to end Monday (Oct 26).

Sabah Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun said the move was important as COVID-19 cases in the state were still at a high level.

Masidi, who is also the Sabah State Government spokesman for COVID-19, however, did not state the length of the proposed extension, as he said it was under the jurisdiction of the NSC.

"We can only propose (to extend the CMCO), in the end, the NSC is the sole authority to determine how long (extended)," he said at a press conference here tonight.

Earlier today, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said Sabah still had the highest number of new COVID-19 cases with 528 out of 710 cases recorded nationwide.

On Oct 12, Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob was reported to have said that the whole of Sabah would be subjected to the CMCO from Oct 13 until this Monday. (Oct 26)

Meanwhile, Masidi, who is also Sabah Finance Minister II, said there were still 12,720 COVID-19 tests with outcomes pending, including new ones received.

"This (outstanding) figure also shows that the Sabah Health Department and the other parties involved have done comprehensive testing of COVID-19 involving more Sabahans," he said.

In the meantime, he said RM 26.7 million had been channelled by the state government to provide Food Basket Assistance in Sabah, and more allocations would follow if required.

"The Food Basket Assistance is given to residents in areas subject to the Enchanced Movement Control Order and those placed under the self-quarantine directive. As of 2 pm today, a total of 72,823 food baskets have been distributed," he said.

-- BERNAMA