KOTA KINABALU: The 71-year-old Tianjin tourist who tested positive for the novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) after returning home from Sabah is likely to have contracted the disease in China.
Sabah Health and People's Wellbeing Minister Datuk Frankie Poon said the man, who came to Sabah between Jan 19 and 25, had shown no infection throughout his vacation.
"Incubation period (of those contracting coronavirus) runs for about two weeks. Chances of him getting from China is higher than from here.
"We don't have a single case of the Wuhan virus in Sabah, let alone contracting the virus from Sabah." he said, adding that surveillance was ongoing on people who had close contact with suspected patients, including a tour agent who had an hour-long chat with the tourist.
Poon was speaking to the press during his ministry's Chinese New Year celebration here. Present were Sabah Health director Datuk Dr Christina Rundi and the ministry's Permanent Secretary Datuk Janet Chee.
As of Jan 28, the state Health Department tested 25 Chinese tourists classified as People Under Investigation (PUI) who were negative for the Coronavirus infection.
As for the latest case in Tawau, Poon said a local man in his 20s had sought treatment at the government health facility to rule out possibility of infection.
"The guy was in Kota Kinabalu before returning to Tawau from a holiday (in China). He had persistant fever and cough.
"There was nothing wrong with him but the hospital brought him in and he became a PUI."
He said the ruling out process had to be done thoroughly and samples had to be sent to the Institute of Medical Research in Kuala Lumpur.
On a related matter, Poon said the case of a private school here which temporarily closed and ordered all students to return home after some of them showed symptoms upon returning from a holiday in China, was a decision made by the school.
So far there was no update on the status of that case.