KOTA KINABALU: A quarter of the Covid-19 cases in the city are sporadic - these are cases where the source of infection cannot be traced, says state Health Department director Datuk Dr Christina Rundi.

As for Tawau district, 77 are from the tabligh cluster compared to 24 from the same cluster in Kota Kinabalu, she said, adding that 14 were sporadic cases.

Tawau and Kota Kinabalu have the highest number of Covid-19 cases in the state whereas out of the four deaths recorded, one was in Tawau, two in Kota Kinabalu and one from Tambunan.

"Sporadic cases are more challenging to deal with and require a larger form of control measure, that is why it is very important to take preventive steps and stop the chain of virus transmission," Dr Rundi said in a statement here Monday (April 13).

She said out of the total of 280 cases as of April 13,79 are from Tawau, 39 each are from Kota Kinabalu and Lahad Datu, 20 each from Sandakan and Tuaran, Kinabatangan (18) and Penampang (11).

As for the total of 5,983 patients under home quarantine, 956 are in Tawau, 796 are in Kota Kinabalu, 684 Kunak (between Tawau and Lahad Datu), 624 Papar, 603 Penampang, 416 in Kinabatangan, 297 in Keningau and 231 in Sandakan.

A total of 853 people are still in state-provided quarantine centres.

On Sabah's 4,600 backlog samples, Dr Rundi said they have managed to get more than the expected numbers tested between April 8 to 10.

"A total of 5,007 tests were completed by our special laboratory task force teams," she said.

On April 12, a total of 1,380 tests were conducted whereby 20 were positive with the Covid-19 virus.

Dr Rundi stressed the need for the public to observe the movement control order (MCO) and to practise good personal hygiene to stop the spread of the coronavirus.