KOTA KINABALU: A new workplace cluster involving an oil palm plantation was detected in Sabah, and it has recorded 20 infections so far.
Sabah Covid-19 spokesman Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun said the Sungai Pin 2 cluster in the Kinabatangan district stemmed from a 52-year-old Indonesian woman.
"The woman who works at an oil palm plantation near Sungai Pin in Kinabatangan had experienced symptoms since Aug 10 and was confirmed positive for Covid-19 by the Batu Putih health clinic.
"Following contact screening, 19 people comprising other employees and dependents were found positive. To date, 20 positive cases have been reported, 19 of which were today.
"The investigation, Covid-19 sampling, and disinfection are still ongoing to assess the possible risk of infection spreading to other plantation workers," he said in a statement.
Today, Sabah saw another surge with the state registering an all-time high of 2,413 infections bringing the cumulative total to 111,346 cases
Masidi said the figure included backlogs of test results, which accounted for 10.7 per cent (258 cases) of the total.
"Close contact screening remained the main contributor with 1,410 cases (58.4 per cent), followed by symptomatic screening at 538 cases (12.3 per cent) and existing clusters which had 233 cases (9.6 per cent)," he said.
Kota Kinabalu recorded 594 new cases, an increase of 127 compared to the previous day, followed by Tawau (348), Penampang (177), Tuaran (174), Keningau (153), Sandakan (150) and Lahad Datu (125).
Those reporting double figures or less were Sipitang (82), Tenom (82), Kota Belud (81), Papar (75), Kalabakan (47), Beaufort (46), Putatan (42), Kinabatangan (36), Kota Marudu (28), Beluran (23), Pitas (22), Semporna (21), Kunak (20), Tongod (20), Telupid (18), Ranau (16), Kudat (13), Nabawan (nine), Kuala Penyu (six) and Tambunan (five).
A total of 1,363 (56.5 per cent) cases were in Category 2, 1,026 (42.5 per cent) in Category 1, 11 in Category 3, three people in Category 4 and five in Category 5.
Masidi said 810 people were reported to have recovered from infection, taking the cumulative recoveries to 91,166 people, while 5,258 Covid-19 patients are still being treated in the state.
On the vaccination programme, as of Tuesday, 48.4 per cent of the targeted adult population in Sabah have received at least one dose of vaccine, while 24.7 per cent have been fully inoculated.
Sabah also registered 18 fatalities – six in Tawau, five in Kota Kinabalu, four in Sandakan, and one each in Penampang, Tuaran and Kunak.