KOTA KINABALU (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK)A total of 396 passengers who flew on two AirAsia Kuala Lumpur-Tawau flights in Sabah, have been told get tested again for Covid-19 after six passengers tested positive for the disease.
Tawau Area 2 health officer Suzalinna Sulaiman urged passengers of AirAsia flight AK5742 on May 1 and AK5740 on May 4 to undergo the test immediately.
"Based on records, 156 passengers were on flight AK5742, where four people have been found Covid-19 positive, while a total of 246 passengers were on AK5740, where two people have been found positive, " she added.
Dr Suzalinna said all passengers had undergone a first screening on arrival and were asked to undergo home quarantine.
"However, after six of them were found positive recently, we want all passengers to undergo another test, " she added.
She stated as of 11am on Wednesday (May 13), 39 people, including seven university students, had completed their second round of Covid-19 testing at the Tawau Health Clinic at Jalan Chong Thien Vun.
She also urged everyone ordered to quarantine at home to observe it strictly and practise distancing with family members, including staying in separate rooms and using separate bathrooms.
In Lahad Datu, health officials at the Sabah district are carrying out screening for Covid-19 among Taman Jaya residents.
Lahad Datu district police chief Nasri Mansor, however, denied that the housing area was under an enforced movement control order.
He said some 315 samples were taken from 681 residents during the health operation in the area that started at 7am.
"The residential area has not been locked down. The roads were closed, (except for) one lane to allow the health personnel to carry out screening of residents from 120 houses, " he said, adding that the health screening ended at 11am.
It is believed that the screening was carried out after a Covid-19 case was detected in a resident who had returned on a flight from Kuala Lumpur.