KOTA KINABALU: Sabah hit a record of 4,374 new daily Covid-19 cases on Tuesday (Feb 15) but most of the infected patients experienced mild symptoms.

       State Covid-19 spokesman Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun said 99.45% or 4,350 of the patients who tested positive were categorised under Category 1 and 2 with no or mild symptoms.

       He said seven cases were under Category 3, 10 in Category 4 and seven in Category 5.

       Masidi said 63% of the cases were due to sporadic infections and expected the number of new cases to continue to rise in the near future.

       He also said two new clusters involving the Kota Kinabalu Prison in Kepayan and a school in Kota Belud district were detected.

       He said the Kota Kinabalu Wall Cluster 2 at the prison here involved staff and prisoners who were infected after a 27-year-old local male prisoner tested positive as he was about to be released.

       All 103 patients detected have been isolated and treated while symptomatic close contacts have also been given quarantine orders.

       In the Jubi Tambulion Cluster, Masidi said 22 students at the Jubilee Hostel of SMK Tambulion tested positive after the index case, a 17-year-old male student, was found positive through symptomatic screening on Feb 12.

       "All cases were isolated and given further treatment and asymptomatic close contacts were also quarantined," he added.

       Masidi also called on parents to get their children aged five to 11 vaccinated as almost 12% of those infected were children.

       He said this included 208 paediatric patients under age five, while 314 were aged between five and 11 and already eligible to receive the vaccine.

       "It is hoped that all children who are eligible for the vaccine will get it immediately to give them maximum protection from serious effects of the viral infection," he added.