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I am sad and shocked that the Sabah Chief Minister, Hajiji Mohd Noor, has been tested positive for Covid-19 to become the first head of state government in Malaysia to be infected with the disease.

His public relations secretary Effendi Mohamed Sunoh said Hajiji, 65, is now receiving treatment at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kota Kinabalu, and his health is good and stable.

Effendi said although Hajiji is receiving treatment, he is still conducting his duties and responsibilities at the place of treatment through phone calls and video conferencing and the state government functions as usual.

Instead of decreasing threat after nine months, the Covid-19 pandemic seems to be reaching new heights menacing the very functioning of government itself.

In Malaysia, a Minister has been tested positive for Covid-19, the Cabinet is not functioning, and the Prime Minister and more than half the Cabinet are undergoing home quarantine for 14 days.

In the United States, which is leading the world with the most number of Covid-19 cases, with a cumulative total of nearly 7.9 million Covid-19 cases with over 218,000 fatalities, the Covid-19 pandemic has turned the White House into a Covid-19 hotspot, infecting US President Donald Trump and his aides.

Sabah is currently battling the worst wave of Covid 19 since it was first detected in the country.

Several districts in the east and west coast are now under a conditional movement control order to try to curb the spread of the virus.

The Health Ministry recorded 274 new Covid-19 cases in Sabah (out of 354 cases in Malaysia) yesterday. Six people in the state, all Malaysians, also died from the virus.

Late last night, the Education Ministry announced the closure of all schools for two weeks, from October 10 to October 25.l

Teachers are to conduct lessons from home in virtual classrooms, the ministry said.

This has again brought to the very forefront the problem of the digital divide in Sabah and the kakistocratic government where neither the Prime Minister nor any Minister dare to exercise discipline over two Deputy Ministers for falsely attacking Veveonah Mosibin – the 24 hour “tree-top girl” whose Youtube of her feat to gain internet connectivity to sit for an online examination has been viewed more than 840,000 times – and her family from Pitas, Sabah.

As Hajiji is carrying out his Chief Minister’s duties by phone calls and video conferencing, let him instruct his Ministers that the agenda of the Hajiji Cabinet is to fulfil his 26-year promise when he stood as an UMNO candidate in 1994 to resolve the problem of illegal immigrants and eradicate corruption in Sabah and to reduce poverty and illiteracy in Sabah to zero – and to instruct the Hajiji Cabinet to issue a report as to how these four objectives are to be fulfilled.

At a time when Sabah is in the eye of the Covid-19 pandemic in Malaysia, it is inexplicable as to why the post of a Sabah Minister for Health had been abolished.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Saturday, 10th October 2020)

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Sedih dan mengejutkan mendengari yang Ketua Menteri Sabah telah didapati positif Covid-19 — semoga janji 26 tahun beliau untuk menyelesaikan masalah pendatang tanpa izin dan menghapuskan rasuah di Sabah dan mengurangkan kadar kemiskinan dan buta huruf menjadi agenda utama Kabinet beliau

Saya berasa sedih dan terkejut selepas mendengari yang Ketua Menteri Sabah, Hajiji Mohd Noor telah disahkan positif dengan Covid-19, menjadi ketua kerajaan negeri pertama dalam negara yang dijangkiti wabak ini.

Pegawai perhubungan awam beliau, Effendi Mohamed Sunoh mengata Hajiji, 65, kini sedang menerima rawatan di Hospital Queen Elizabeth di Kota Kinabalu dan berada dalam keadaan yang baik dan stabil.

Effendi mengatakan walaupun Hajiji sedang menerima rawatan, beliau masih menjalankan tugas dan tanggungjawab beliau di tempat rawatan melalui panggilan telefon dan persidangan video dan kerajaan negeri masih berfungsi seperti biasa.

Selepas sembilan bulan, wabak Covid-19 ini kelihatan telah mencapai satu puncak baharu, sehingga mengancam fungsi-fungsi kerajaan.

Di Malaysia, seorang menteri telah disahkan positif, Kabinet dilumpuhkah, dengan Perdana Menteri dan hampir setengah ahli jemaah Kabinet menjalani kuarantin dari rumah selama 14 hari.

Di Amerika Syarikat, yang mendahului dengan jumlah kes Covid-19 yang tertinggi di dunia, dengan sejumlah 7.9 juta kes Covid-19 dan lebih daripada 218,000 kematian, wabak ini telah menjadi White House sebagai pusat penularan utama, menjangkiti Presiden AS, Donald Trump, dan para pegawai kanan beliau.

Sabah kini sedang berhadapan gelombang terburuk Covid-19 dalam sejarah negara.

Beberapa daerah di pantai timur dan barat kini berada di bawah perintah kawalan pergerakan bersyarat untuk mencuba mengawal penularan wabak ini.

Kementerian Kesihatan mencatatkan 274 kes baharu di Sabah (daripada sejumlah 354 kes baharu di seluruh negara) semalam. Enam orang daripada negeri tersebut, kesemuanya rakyat, telah terkorban semalam.

Lewat malam semalam, Kementerian Pendidikan telah mengumumkan penutupan semua sekolah di Sabah untuk tempoh dua minggu, bermula daripada 10 Oktober sehingga 25 Oktober.

Para guru diminta menjalankan program pengarajan dan pembelajaran melalui bilik darjah maya, kata kementerian tersebut.

Perkara ini sekali lagi menonjolkan masalah jurang digital di Sabah dan kerajaan kakistokratik di mana Perdana Menteri mahupun mana-mana menteri Kabinet berani untuk mendisiplinkan dua orang timbalan menteri yang telah membuat pertuduhan salah terhadap Veveonah Mosibin — gadis yang merakamkan pengalaman beliau berada di atas pokok selama 24 jam di Youtube yang telah ditonton lebih daripada 840,000 kali — dan keluarganya daripada Pitas, Sabah.

Memandangkan Hajiji sedang menjalankan tugas beliau sebagai Ketua Menteri melalui panggilan telefon dan persidangan video, harap beliau akan memberitahu para menteri beliau yang agenda utama Kabinet Hajiji ini adalah untuk memenuhi janji selama 26 tahun beliau semasa beliau pertama kali bertanding sebagai calon UMNO pada tahun 1994 untuk menyelesaikan masalah pendatang tanpa izin, menghapuskan rasuah di Sabah, dan mengurangkan kadar kemiskinan dan kadar buta huruf di Sabah kepada sifar — dan untuk mengarahkan Kabinet beliau untuk membentangkan satu laporan bagaimana keempat-empat objektif ini boleh dicapai.

Dalam masa di mana Sabah kini menjadi tumpuan utama Covid-19 di Malaysia, agak pelik apabila jawatan Menteri Kesihatan Sabah dihapuskan.

(Kenyataan Media Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Gelang Patah pada hari Sabtu 10 Oktober 2020)