Hand, foot and mouth victims pass 10,000 mark

Star: KUCHING: Cases of the hand, foot and mouth (HFM) disease has shot past the 10,000 mark since the major outbreak three months ago.
There were 10,091 cumulative cases statewide, including 26 new cases reported yesterday.
The 10,000 mark was breached on the first day of Gawai Dayak holiday on Thursday when 29 new cases were reported.
Eight of the new cases yesterday were detected in Miri Division, seven in Bintulu Division, three each in Samarahan, Sibu and Limbang Division and two in Kuching Division, Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr George Chan Hong Nam said in a press statement.
He said there were nine admissions, bringing the number of children still warded in hospitals to 24. Ten are in the Sibu Hospital.
Sibu Division still has the highest number of cumulative cases at 2,436, followed by Miri Division (1,800), Kuching Division (1,300), Bintulu Division (1,264) and Sarikei Division (907).
Ten children have died of the disease. The last victim was a six-year-old girl, who died in Miri on May 6.
At the height of the previous outbreak, the Health Ministry ordered the closure of all 488 kindergartens on March 3 to stop the spread of the disease.