Kepayan Prison hit by cluster for the third time
Published on: Wednesday, February 16, 2022
By: Anthea Peter
Kota Kinabalu: The Kepayan Prison has been hit with a cluster for the third time, this time named as the Tembok Kota Kinabalu 2 Cluster, which saw some 104 infections.Sabah’s Covid-19 spokesperson Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun said the index patient is a 27-year-old male Malaysian detainee who was set to be released soon.
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“Screenings on all contacts found another 103 positive among inmates and prison staff.
“All patients have been isolated for further treatment. Symptomatic close contacts have been ordered to quarantine,” he said in a statement, Tuesday.
The Kepayan Prison was once the centre of a massive Covid-19 outbreak in Sabah, which saw over thousands of infections among inmates, circa 2020.
Masidi said another education cluster was identified in Kota Belud, named as the Jubi Tambulion Cluster, which involved students at the Jubilee Hostel, SMK Tambulion.
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“The index case is a male 17-year-old local student who was tested positive during a symptomatic screening on Feb 12.
“Close contacts among his roommates and classmates found another 22 positive,” he said, adding that all cases have been isolated for further treatment.
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Sabah hit a new all-time high with 4,374 cases on Tuesday, with 12 per cent of cases involving infection among children aged 11 and below while eight deaths were recorded, three in Tuaran and one each in Tawau, Semporna, Beaufort, Kota Kinabalu and Kota Marudu.
“Some 208 children were those aged below five who are ineligible for the vaccine, while another 314 were children between age five and 11 who are already eligible for the vaccine.
“It is hoped that all vaccine-eligible children will get their jabs as soon as possible in order to give them maximum protection from infection or serious effects from the virus,” Masidi stressed.
On the caseload, Masidi said Kota Kinabalu topped the list with 752 cases, followed by Sandakan (647), Tuaran (388), Penampang (385), Tawau (256), Putatan (241), Papar (233) and Lahad Datu (196).
“With taking into account the higher percentage of sporadic infections, which is 63 per cent, the caseload is expected to surge in the near future,” he warned.
Masidi said the majority of cases are mild, with 4,350 cases being category one and two infections, which is 99.45 per cent of the caseload.
“There are seven cases in category three, 10 in category four and seven in category five,” he added.
Some 1,461 Covid-19 patients have been discharged from the hospital while 2,842 patients are currently receiving treatment at hospitals, low-risk quarantine and treatment centres (PKRCs), prisons/temporary detention centres and private facilities.
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