Schools that have identified at least two Covid-19 positive individuals within an internal transmission must close for seven days, with immediate effect, said Sabah’s Covid-19 spokesperson Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun. He said this was decided by the State Covid-19 Disaster Management Committee and it must be verified by the State Health Department that the positive cases involve students, teachers and staff of the school. “Only students facing major examinations are allowed to return to the hostel to continue their learning sessions on Feb 7,” said Masidi in a statement, Friday. Sabah’s caseload nearly hit four digits as cases doubled from 476 on Thursday to 909 on Friday, while another four education clusters were recorded which saw 135 infections cumulatively. Masidi said the four clusters were the Sungai Batang Batu Sepuluh Cluster in Sandakan, Jalan Tandek Cluster and Jalan Taman Beringin Cluster in Kota Marudu and Jalan Pendidikan Ranau Cluster in Ranau. The Sungai Batang Sepuluh Cluster saw the largest number of infections of the four clusters, with 50 detected positive among hostel students, ordinary students, teachers and family members of the index case “The index case is a 16-year-old female student at MRSM Tun Mohammad Fuad Stephens who started having fever on Jan 25 and was later detected positive through a symptomatic screening on the same day. “All those detected positive are in category one and two (mild symptoms),” he said. The Jalan Tandek Cluster involving students at SMK Tandek 1 saw a total of 35 infections, stemming from a 15-year-old male hostel student. “He started having symptoms on Jan 15 and tested positive on Jan 17 via RTK screening. Screenings on his hostel mates and classmates found another 34 positive,” said Masidi, adding that all cases are in category one and two. The Jalan Taman Beringin Cluster involved students at SMK Bandau which was sparked by a 17-year-old female student who underwent Covid-19 screening on Jan 18 before undergoing an examination in Queen Elizabeth Hospital 2. “Close contact screenings found another 24 positive, comprising hostel students, ordinary students and school staff. All cases are in category one and two,” Masidi explained. The Jalan Pendidikan Ranau Cluster involved students at SMK Mat Salleh and was sparked by a 19-year-old male Form Six student who had experienced symptoms since Jan 29. “He was detected positive on Jan 31 and screenings conducted on his roommates, hostel mates and classmates found another 24 positive. All cases are in category one and two,” said Masidi. To date, Sabah has recorded 17 education clusters, since the first one was detected on Jan 16. Two deaths were recorded, one each in Tuaran and Sandakan. On the caseload, Masidi said three districts recorded significantly high cases in triple digits, namely Sandakan (185), Penampang (115) and Kota Kinabalu (101). “Sporadic infections are high in these three districts. In Sandakan, 37.84 per cent of cases were symptomatic, 33.04 per cent of Penampang’s cases and 55.45 per cent of Kota Kinabalu’s cases. “Only four districts recorded single-digit cases and another four did not record any new cases. Almost the entire State recorded a rise in cases, with 10 districts recording a double-digit increase. “Some 89 cases were contributed by nine active clusters, including the four new education clusters identified on Friday,” Masidi explained. Masidi said 900 out of 909 cases were category one and two infections that do not require hospital treatment, while five cases were in category three, three in category four and one in category five. Some 388 Covid-19 patients have been discharged from the hospital while 1,052 patients are currently receiving treatment at hospitals, low-risk quarantine and treatment centres (PKRCs), prisons/temporary detention centres and private facilities