KOTA KINABALU, Jan 25 — A Covid-19 cluster involving another educational institution cluster has been recorded in Sabah, today, bringing the number of cumulative cases to 18 involving hostel students at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Balung, Tawau, said state Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun.

Masidi, who is also Sabah Covid-19 spokesman, said the index case was a male Form Four student who tested positive on January 21 after displaying symptoms on January 19.

"Screening has been conducted on 38 close contacts. All patients have been categorised as mildly symptomatic (category one and two), and have been quarantined and given appropriate treatment,” he said in a statement, here, tonight.

Last week, five Covid-19 clusters involving educational institutions were detected in Sabah, namely in Putatan (Pandan-Pandan cluster), Sandakan (Jalan Pertukangan cluster), Ranau (Puri Ranau cluster), (Bypass Kologon cluster) and Tambunan (Jalan Kepayan Lama cluster).

Meanwhile, Masidi said 314 new Covid-19 cases were recorded in Sabah today, bringing the cumulative number of cases to 246,07. There were three deaths.

"There have been 177 recoveries, bringing the cumulative number of recoveries to 238,187, with 690 patients receiving treatment,” he added. — Bernama