KOTA KINABALU: Nine districts in Sabah will not be part of the zone travel system tomorrow as they have yet to reach the 60 per cent adult vaccination rate requirement.
Sabah Covid-19 spokesman Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun said the districts are Kinabatangan, Telupid, Tongod, Sandakan, Kalabakan, Tawau, Papar, Semporna and Nabawan.
"These districts are categorised as 'stand-alone districts' because they have not yet reached 60 per cent full vaccination rate for their adult population.
"As announced Tuesday, the state government has decided to allow inter-district travel according to zones tomorrow provided that 60 per cent of the state's (and districts) adult population has been fully vaccinated," he said in a statement today.
Masidi said Sabah has grouped its districts into five zones.
The first zone comprises Kota Kinabalu, Penampang, Putatan, Tuaran, Ranau and Kota Belud, while Zone 2 comprising Beaufort, Sipitang and Kuala Penyu.
Zone 3 comprises Kudat, Kota Marudu, Pitas and Beluran, while Zone 4 comprises Lahad Datu and Kunak, while Keningau, Tambunan and Tenom are in Zone 5.
Masidi adds that all economic and sports activities were allowed to operate between 6am and 10pm, effective tomorrow.
Today, Sabah recorded 993 new Covid-19 cases with 20 fatalities – eight in Sandakan, four in Pitas, two each in Papar and Tawau, and one each in Kudat, Kinabatangan, Kota Marudu and Penampang.
A new community cluster emerged in Long Pasia, Sipitang which was linked to a birthday celebration.
Masidi said the new cluster, and the one registered in Ranau yesterday, were disappointing as members of the public were still not taking the standard operating procedure (SOP) seriously.
"The index case for the Long Pasia cluster was a 76-year-old woman who was tested positive on Sept 25 at the Long Pasia clinic after having fever and cough since Sept 4.
"Investigations revealed that a birthday celebration was held at the woman's house and attended by several villagers on Sept 19. To date, 25 people have been found positive because of screening conducted on 30 individuals.
"The Long Pasia cluster and the Mokodou cluster in Ranau are quite disappointing. These two cases demonstrate that there are still some people who do not take the SOPs and advice of Health Ministry seriously.
"Negligence resulted in Covid-19 virus infection involving many populations," he said, adding that the cluster in Ranau stemmed from a funeral gathering.
Masidi urged district officers, community leaders, especially at the grassroots level and village development and security committee chairmen to monitor social events in the village to ensure strict compliance with all SOP.
"Cooperation of the people is very important to enable us to win the war against the Covid-19 pandemic," he said.
Masidi said of the 993 cases, 393 were backlogged cases.
Close contact screening remains the major contributor with 487 cases, which often associated with the failure of the people to comply with the SOP.
As of yesterday, 64.3 per cent of the adult population in the state were fully vaccinated.
