KOTA KINABALU, Sept 30 – Federal authorities are mulling a "lockdown” of the Sabah state capital due to rising Covid-19 cases, said Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin.

He said Kota Kinabalu was about to become a "red zone”, which led authorities to consider implementing the measure.

"The government is thinking about locking down KK so this Covid-19 doesn’t spread to other districts.

"This is coming from the Health Ministry but the federal government will have to approve it. They will look at the situation and decide if it's under control. If not, then we have no choice, we have to protect people first,” he said.

In Sabah, four districts in the east coast — Lahad Datu, Tawau, Kunak and Semporna — have already been put under a targeted enhanced movement control order.

The order affecting nearly a million people was for a two-week period between September 29 and October 12.

The decision was made after all four districts recorded a total of 1,195 Covid-19 cases from September 1 to 27.

Kota Kinabalu currently has 12 active cases. Comparatively, Tawau has 385 active cases, Semporna has 299, Lahad Datu has 102 and Kunak, 58.

However, more cases are being discovered daily.