LABUAN, Feb 28 ― Children below the age of 12 are starting to form a large proportion of Covid-19 cases in Labuan, said its Health Department director, Dr Ismuni Bohari.

He said, as at February 27, a total of 54 children below the age of 12 are infected with Covid-19 while another 219 such cases involve those above the age of 13, who have not yet fully recovered.

"Currently, we have 10 children, aged 12 and below, with five each admitted to the hospital and Covid-19 Quarantine and Low-risk Treatment Centre (PKRC) respectively.

"The remaining 44 are undergoing home quarantine, and these children are classified under category two of Covid-19,” he said to Bernama today.

Dr Ismuni said his team views the number of infections involving children seriously, as the number of such cases has risen steadily over the last week.

"There were 82 new cases involving children aged 12 and below reported on February 23, before declining to 65 cases on February 26, and 54 as of yesterday, but we cannot predict (the trend) for the next few days,” he said.

Dr Ismuni said that the number of children aged five to 11, receiving the vaccine under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme for Children (PICKids) has yet to exceed the target after it was launched on February 7.

"We expect to run the PICkids for a month (from February 7), but the number of children who have received their first dose has yet to exceed 50 per cent of the total target of 11,700,” he said.

He said only 23.94 per cent, or 2,801 children, have so far received the shots at four existing vaccination centres, namely at Labuan Hospital, Kompleks Darul Kifayah hall, Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Pekan 2 and SK Sungai Lada.

Labuan has recorded three digits of new cases over the past week, at 311 cases yesterday, with two cases being treated in the intensive care unit (ICU). ― Bernama