KOTA KINABALU, Nov 1 — Fully vaccinated visitors entering Sabah will now undergo a shorter quarantine period.

Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun today said upon arrival, a fully vaccinated visitor will be allowed to undergo a seven-day quarantine period while those unvaccinated or yet to complete their vaccination will be quarantined for 10 days.

"Self quarantine at home can also be considered for a fully vaccinated visitor to Sabah,” he said.

Covid-19 positive cases in Sabah dipped below 400 today. At 393 cases recorded, it was 54 cases lower than yesterday.

The situation in almost all districts is under control albeit some recording a slight increase in cases.

Other than Kota Kinabalu with 62 cases, the daily record of cases in all districts is under 50 respectively with 12 districts recording less than 10 cases of Covid-19 infection while there are no new cases reported in three districts.

Of the 393 cases recorded today, 45.5 per cent or 179 cases are those reported two to five days after the screening results were obtained.

New cases which were reported within 24 hours totalled 214 or 54.5 per cent of the total number of cases recorded.

The number of serious cases remained at a minimal level with five patients reported in category 3, two in category 4 and three in category 5. Most of the cases are in category 2 which involved 320 patients (81.4 per cent) and category 1, 60 patients (15.3 per cent).

There are three cases under investigation by the state Health Department.

The Covid-19 virus claimed seven lives in Sabah today.

Masidi said the fatalities reported were in Tawau with two cases and one case each in Kota Kinabalu, Kota Marudu, Kuala Penyu, Kudat and Lahad Datu.

The state Covid-19 spokesperson however stressed that the deaths did not necessarily occur within the last 24 hours as some of the cases needed time for verification and were reported later.

He added that the number of recovered patients today was 602 making the cumulative total 207,601.

A total of 1,867 patients are being treated, he said, adding that 747 of them are in hospital, 1,103 in low risk public quarantine centres, 16 in temporary detention centres/prison and one in a private medical facility.

The number of those requiring critical care is 83, Masidi said, adding that 80 of them are in ICU and three in open ward. He said that 23 of them are ventilated.

According to him, the number of patients in stage four and five who have not completed their vaccination is 95 (43.38 per cent).

"All districts in Sabah recorded a non-static change in the number of positive Covid-19 cases with a total of 203 cases from close contact screening. This could be because of the high possiblity of non-compliance to the SOP despite repeated calls by the government,” he stressed.

Masidi also disclosed that as of October 31, a total of 2,425,413 people in Sabah have received one dose of vaccine while 2,331,006 have been fully vaccinated.

Forty-four compounds were issued throughout the state to those who violated the SOP with the bulk, 29 compounds for not complying with operation hours. — Borneo Post Online