Sabah To Reopen For Fully Vaccinated And Boosted International Tourists

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-REUTERS file pic, for illustration purpose.KOTA KINABALU: Sabah may fine tune the April 1 border reopening Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) announced by the federal government today.
State Covid-19 spokesman, Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun said there may be need for some improvement in the SOP for Sabah, taking into account that the state receives many tourists via boats from two neighbouring countries, namely the Philippines and Indonesia.
He said as such the Sabah Covid-19 Disaster Management Committee will wait for the national SOP to be announced in detail to enable the committee to discuss and make necessary adjustments.
"Sabah wants to ensure that every international visitor who comes to Sabah is fully vaccinated and 'boosted'," he said in a statement today.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob earlier today announced the country's long-awaited transition to the endemic phase, with borders reopening for international travellers on April 1.
Ismail Sabri said the decision was made after taking various factors into consideration, and conducting risk assessments and obtaining feedback from the Health Ministry and the recommendation of the Quartet of Ministers.
Meanwhile, Sabah recorded 1,216 new cases today, which was a marginal drop of 19 cases compared to yesterday.
Masidi said the Covid-19 situation has yet to stabilise in the state although the number of daily cases is going down.
"Only 12 out of 27 districts in the state have recorded a decrease in new cases, but there are increases in the other 15 districts.
"The percentage of total symptomatic cases due to sporadic infections among the community also remains high at 64.06 per cent. This is almost two-thirds of the number of new cases in Sabah," he pointed out.
Masidi said Sabah now has 31 active clusters after seven clusters, including six educational institution clusters declared closed today.
The education clusters were Jalan Pertukangan and Sungai Batang Batu 10 (Sandakan), Teritipan (Kota Marudu), Lorong Api-Api (Kota Kinabalu), Jalan Sri Balung (Tawau), and Jalan Pendidikan Ranau (Ranau).
Another cluster that ended was the high-risk Montenior in Beaufort.
A total of 1,199 or 98.6 per cent of the total cases were in Categories 1 and 2, three in Category 3, 11 in Category 4, and three in Category 5.
Sabah also registered five deaths today, including two in Kota Kinabalu. - NST

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