KOTA KINABALU: Over 10% of the latest new Covid-19 cases in Sabah involved children under the age of five.

       Minister in charge of Covid-19 matters in Sabah, Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun (pic) said out of the 2,578 new cases recorded on Sunday (Aug 29), 235 were children aged one to five while 34 were babies under the age of one.

       He said those aged under 18 but over six years old totalled 509 people and the remaining 1,800 were those aged 18 and above.

       He added that although there was a slight reduction in the number of daily cases compared to Saturday (Aug 28) with 2,834 cases, it was not a reason for anyone to relax or get comfortable.

       Masidi pointed out that Kota Kinabalu (586), Penampang (128), Sandakan (249), Tawau (206), Papar (117), Tuaran (469), Telupid (101), Kota Belud (111), Keningau (84) and Lahad Datu (63) were listed as the top 10 districts with the highest number of cases in Sabah.

       On related matters, no new clusters were recorded as of Sunday.

       He also said that out of the total new cases recorded, over 91% (2,356) people were citizens.

       “Of those tested positive for the virus, a total of 2,507 are under Category 1 and 2,” he said.

       On Sabah’s vaccination rate, Masidi said only about 37% of adults had been fully vaccinated while over 56% had received their first dose.

       “It doesn’t matter whether our vaccination rate is high or low, we still have to maintain high compliance with SOPs,” he said.

       He said getting vaccinated and observing SOPs in all situations is the key to winning the war against this pandemic.