A health worker carries Covid-19 swab samples for testing. — Bernama photo
KOTA KINABALU (Jan 25): Jalan Sri Balung cluster in Tawau is the sixth educational institution cluster in Sabah recorded on Jan 25.
State Minister of Local Government and Housing Datuk Masidi Manjun in his statement said the 314 cases recorded on Tuesday were more than double the previous day’s.
“Based on daily reports and statistics provided by the Health Department, the reason for the sharp increase is due to the relatively high numbers among close contacts and active clusters.
“A total of 64 new cases today came from existing clusters and 143 were among close contacts,” he said.
The index case of the latest cluster was a Form 4 male dormitory student at SMK Balung.
It was reported that the student started having symptoms on Jan 19 and confirmed positive with Covid-19 through RTK Ag test on Jan 21.
“Screening on close contacts found 17 more students positive making it a total of 18 so far. All the infected students were in Categories 1 and 2 who are isolated and given appropriate treatment,” he said.
From the 314 total cases, 312 patients were under Category 1 and 2 and two in Category 3.