KOTA KINABALU: The traditional midnight “buang sial” (cleansing) dip among Sabahans on New Year’s eve will not be allowed in view of the continuing concerns over the Covid-19 pandemic.

       Kota Kinabalu City mayor Datuk Noorliza Awang Alip said City Hall would be closing all its public beach parks – Tanjung Aru 1 and Likas Bay – from 1pm today to 6am tomorrow.

       “The decision is in line with the efforts to curb the spread of the Covid-19 virus,” she said in a statement here yesterday.

       She urged the public not to visit the parks during the closure to reduce the risk of the virus spreading among the people.

       Sabah Covid-19 spokesman Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun urged the people to celebrate the New Year in their homes and observe all the dos and don’ts under Phase Four of the National Recovery Plan.

       “I really hope everyone will consider celebrating New Year’s Eve with just the family at home.

       “Avoid crowded places,” he said, when commenting on phase four that allows almost all economic and social activities to resume – with the public asked to strictly observe standard operating procedure (SOP).

       Thousands of people usually converge at the popular Tanjung Aru and Likas Bay beaches to hold picnics on the eve of New Year before taking a traditional dip at the stroke of midnight to “wash away bad omens of the passing year”.

       Similar practices are also carried out at rivers in the state that are expected to go on.

       Meanwhile, Masidi said the number of daily new cases spiked across over 200 after the state had been experiencing a stabilising trend over the past week.

       He said a total of 226 infections were recorded yesterday from 197 new cases reported a day earlier.The city led the pack with 46 new cases followed by Tuaran (37), Penampang (18), Tawau (15), Kota Belud (14), Keningau (13) with Papar and Ranau districts reporting 12 cases each.

       He said there were no new clusters.