KOTA KINABALU: The backlog in recording Covid-19 deaths are contributing to the daily numbers of fatalities in areas with high vaccination rates, such as the Klang Valley and Sarawak, says Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

       However, these numbers can be expected to reduce over the next two or three weeks, he said at the press conference after the Sabah state-level Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force meeting here yesterday.

       “The deaths announced every day is not within the last 24 hours, there is a huge delay as we need to confirm if the deaths are really caused by Covid-19 or not,” he said.

       At the same time, he noted that brought-in-dead (BID) cases mostly involved individuals who were not being monitored by the Health Ministry or medical facilities.

       “In Sabah, for example, I have asked that community leaders and neighbours be engaged to monitor those who may have symptoms but have not undergone Covid-19 testing.

       “There’s also a challenge as some BID cases are non-citizens who were unwilling to come forward to get help,” he added.

       Meanwhile, he said the Delta variant was the main variant of concern locally. Genomic surveillance is being carried out to monitor the virus.