KOTA KINABALU: Authorities are tracking down a man who tested positive for Covid-19, but escaped from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital 1 (QEH1) before he could be warded for treatment.

Kota Kinabalu police chief Habibi Majinji said the suspect was told by a healthcare worker at the hospital to wait in the lift for his turn to be checked into a ward while another patient was being brought in.

“But when the healthcare worker returned to the lift, the suspect had disappeared,” Habibi told FMT, when contacted.

Habibi added that the suspect had been warded at the Quarantine and Low Risk Covid-19 Treatment Centre on Nov 13 before he tested positive for the virus.

Police are now investigating the case under Section 270 of the Penal Code and Section 22(b) of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act.