All services allowed to operate
Published on: Tuesday, August 17, 2021
By: Anthea Peter
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Bernama pic for illustration only.
Kota Kinabalu: All essential and non-essential services in the manufacturing, construction, mining and quarrying sectors in Sabah will be allowed to operate at full capacity if 80 to 100 per cent of their staff are fully vaccinated, as part of the National Security Council’s latest Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) updated on Monday.Sabah’s Covid-19 spokesperson Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun said if 60 to 79 per cent of employees are vaccinated, the said sectors would only be allowed to operate at 80 per cent capacity.
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Additionally, 13 more businesses under the trade and distribution sector are now allowed to operate, with business hours from 6am to 8pm.
They include (1) sports equipment stores, (2) clothing, fashion and accessory stores, (3) jewellery stores, (4) photography goods stores and photography services (5) second-hand goods stores and (6) handicraft and souvenir shops.
The others are (7) antique shops, (8) toy stores, (9) carpet stores, (10) creative content stores, (11) outdoor equipment stores, (12) skincare and perfume stores and (13) tobacco stores.
“These subsectors are allowed to operate on condition that all customers and workers have completed at least one dose of the vaccine, and they must complete their vaccination within the grace period granted until Sept 15,” said Masidi in a statement, Monday.
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Sabah’s Covid-19 cases recorded an uptick with 1,728 cases on Monday from 1,665 cases on Sunday, while 15 deaths were recorded throughout the State – five each in Kota Kinabalu and Tawau and one each in Sandakan, Penampang, Keningau, Tuaran and Sipitang.
One new cluster was identified in Lahad Datu, named as the Cenderawasih Cluster involving workplace transmission sparked by a 39-year-old male security personnel who was detected positive at the Tungku Health Clinic on Aug 11.
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“Close contact screenings found another seven positive, bringing the tally to eight cases in this cluster. Out of 35 contacts screened, 27 are still awaiting results.
“The source of infection is still being investigated. However, early investigations found that close contacts have engaged in sports activities with the index case” said Masidi.
On Sabah’s caseload, Masidi said KK is back on top of the list with 361 cases, a jump of 154 cases from 207 on Sunday, followed by Tawau (254), Sandakan (243), Tuaran (149) and Penampang (138). He said close contacts continued to be the largest contributor with 955 cases, making up 55.26 per cent of the caseload, while symptomatic cases accounted for 26.68 per cent of the caseload with 141 cases.
“KK’s percentage of symptomatic cases is quite high at 43.2 per cent, followed by Penampang with 38.4 per cent, Tawau with 30 per cent and Sandakan with 22.2 per cent,” he said.
Of the 1,728 caseload, nine cases involved babies less than a year old, 103 involved one to five-year-olds, 280 involved six to 17-year-olds, 1,223 involved 18 to 59-year-olds, whereas 113 cases involved those aged above 60 years.
The caseload also comprises 1,382 Malaysians and 346 non-Malaysians, 1,707 local cases and 21 imported cases, while 1,206 are unvaccinated and 177 have completed both doses.
Masidi said 366 cases are in category one, 763 in category two, 10 in category three, one in category four and one in category five. 587 patients are still waiting to be categorised.
Some 1,508 Covid-19 patients have been discharged from the hospital while 5,131 patients are currently receiving treatment at hospitals and low risk quarantine and treatment centres (PKRCs).
Masidi said 196 patients are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), with 66 needing ventilator support, adding Sabah’s bed capacity is at 7,361 units with a bed occupancy rate of 69.6 per cent.
On Sabah’s immunisation programme, Masidi said 46.2 per cent of the adult population have gotten their first dose while 22.7 per cent have been fully vaccinated, as of Aug 15.
As part of phase two of the programme, 25,172 individuals received their first dose on Monday, bringing the tally to 1,236,152, while 27,820 received their second dose, bringing the tally to 577,506.
Meanwhile, six localities in Tawau will be placed under EMCO starting Aug 18 to 31, namely Kg Mentadak Baru in Pulau Sebatik, Kg Sri Aman, Batu 3½ along Jalan Apas, Kampung Hidayat, Mile 4, Taman Semarak Jaya, as well as Lorong Damai and Lorong Haji Marzuki along Jalan Damai.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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