Sabah prepares for anticipated rise in cases

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PETALING JAYA: In view of the anticipated rise in the number of Covid-19 cases in Sabah, Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob says the armed forces have agreed to activate its military field hospital in Tawau.



“The field hospital will treat non-Covid-19 cases and handle trauma and emergency surgeries.

“The field hospital will have 100 beds, five specialists and eight medical officers, among others,” he said yesterday.

This, he said, would allow public hospitals in Tawau to focus on treating Covid-19 patients.

Ismail Sabri, who is also Defence Minister, said the air force would be providing daily flights for the Health Ministry’s logistical needs, including transporting medical personnel.

“Daily flights to Peninsular Malaysia will be made to transport swab samples as Sabah’s capacity to carry out mass testing is limited,” he said, adding that Sabah borders would be closed from tomorrow.

Four transit quarantine centres will be set up in the state to control the number of Covid-19 cases among illegal migrants following a proposal from the Sabah National Security Council.

In Selangor, Ismail Sabri said an enhanced movement control order was imposed on the workers’ hostel at Tropicana Golf and Country Resort (TGCR) for two weeks effective from midnight tomorrow.

However, he said the clubhouse and the residential units at the resort were not affected.

“The authorities, including state authorities, would arrange for food to be sent to those affected as they would not be allowed to leave their homes,” he said.

TGCR, in a Facebook posting last night, said five of its employees had been tested positive.

Two of them had not stepped into the premises since Sept 17 after they came back from Sabah.

The remaining three – one field worker and two non-customer-facing employees – were found positive during their self-quarantine at their hostels.

TGCR said its hostel, which is not on its premises, will undergo sanitisation and disinfection.

The 1Utama shopping complex was also told to close for seven days from tomorrow for sanitisation and decontamination works after some workers at the complex tested positive for Covid-19.

Ismail Sabri said health authorities had initiated contact tracing and screening, adding that about 800 workers were employed there.

In a Facebook posting, 1Utama said its staff and tenants had undergone tests as a precautionary measure.

It also stated that employees of Mac City Service Centre and close contacts of Parkson Elite staff had also tested negative.

The Health Ministry confirmed that the small number of cases in 1Utama were not linked and not spread by one source, “with the infected persons showing no symptoms during their workdays at our tenant outlets,” it said.

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