KOTA KINABALU: Sabah will move to Phase Three of the National Recovery Plan (NRP) on Monday (Oct 18), says state Covid-19 spokesman Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun.

       He said the state had already qualified to move to the new phase, which would allow for more economic and social activities to open.

       He said details under Phase Three would be available on the National Security Council (NSC) website.

       Masidi said that although it was quite difficult to predict current and future trends of new Covid-19 cases in the state, the cumulative pattern of infections over a 14-day period showed a decline.

       For Friday (Oct 15), he said the state recorded 720 new cases, an increase of 29 from the day before,

       "As predicted, the daily cases will go through a ‘yo-yo’ trend in the near future. After dropping 60 cases yesterday (Thursday), today the number increased by 29 cases," added Masidi, who is state Local Government and Housing Minister.

       Although cumulative cases increased, he said, the number of districts that recorded a decrease (16) was more than those that recorded an increase (11).

       All major towns also recorded a decrease in cases except for Putatan and Kudat, which recorded double-digit increases.

       He said new cases in the state involved 253 or 31.5% from symptomatic screenings and this was an indication that the level of standard operating procedure (SOP) compliance among the population was not very satisfactory.