KUCHING, May 29 — Sarawak today recorded four deaths from Covid-19 along with 726 new positive cases, said the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) in a statement.

"A total of 430 or 59.23 per cent of today’s cases were detected in Kuching, Kapit, Sibu, Miri and Subis districts,” it said.

The figures brought the total death toll in the state to 280, and the cumulative total of positive cases to 46,162 cases.

The 277th death was a 72-year-old woman who was admitted to Kapit Hospital for experiencing symptoms of fever, cough and difficulty in breathing for a week. The rT-PCR tests were performed and she was detected positive for Covid-19 on May 20. Her condition worsened and she was confirmed dead on May 24. She had comorbidities of hypertension and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

The 278th death involved a 58-year-old man who was admitted to Quarantine and Low-Risk Treatment Centre (PKRC) after RTK Antigen screening was positive on May 21. He was referred to Bintulu Hospital for further treatment as he had difficulty in breathing. His rT-PCR test was found positive on May 22. His condition worsened and he was confirmed dead on May 26. He had comorbidities of hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidemia.

The 279th death was a 63-year-old man who had been admitted to Bintulu Hospital for having symptoms of fever and cough for a month. RTK Antigen and rt-PCR tests were performed and found positive on May 26. His condition deteriorated and he was confirmed dead on May 28. He had comorbidities of hypertension and diabetes.

The 280th death involved a woman aged 59 who was referred to Kapit Hospital after experiencing symptoms of fever and cough for five days. The rt-PCR test was performed on May 8 and found positive on May 11. Her health deteriorated and she was confirmed dead on May 28. She had comorbidities of diabetes and end-stage kidney disease.

SDMC informed that as for the new cases, the most cases were recorded in Kuching with 159, followed by Kapit (73), Sibu (72), Miri (66), Subis (60), Bintulu (49), Samarahan (43), Pakan (28), Meradong (27), Selangau (16), Asajaya (16), Sarikei (15), Tanjung Manis (13), Beluru (13), Mukah (12), Serian (10), Matu (9), Pusa (8), Bau (8), Betong (5), Simunjan (5), Kanowit (4), Julau (4), Tatau (2), Saratok (2), Marudi (2), Song (2), Lawas (1), Sri Aman (1) and Sebauh (1).

"Out of the 726 new cases reported, 41 showed signs and experiencing symptoms of Covid-19 infection during the screening.

"A total of 568 cases comprised individuals who have been given quarantine orders at designated quarantine centres,” it said.

From the new cases, 521 cases are results of screening individuals who had contact with positive cases, with four symptomatic.

A total of 124 cases are from other screenings at healthcare centres and three are symptomatic, while 34 cases are from screening symptomatic individuals at healthcare centres.

Meanwhile, 45 cases are individuals screened from currently active infection clusters and none of them had symptoms.

There are two imported case of returnees from other states in the country and they are asymptomatic.

SDMC said that there were 497 recovery and discharged cases for the day.

"These cases were from Sibu Hospital and PKRC in Sibu (127), Bintulu Hospital and PKRC under Bintulu Hospital (105), Miri Hospital and PKRC under Miri Hospital (72), Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) and PKRC under SGH (67), Kapit Hospital and PKRC under Kapit Hospital (42), Sarikei Hospital and PKRC under Sarikei Hospital (28), PKRC Betong (26), PKRC Mukah (16), Sri Aman Hospital and PKRC Sri Aman (7), and PKRC Serian (7).

"As of today, 37,872 or 82.04 per cent of total cases have recovered and discharged,” it said.

SDMC said that a total of 7,907 cases are still being treated at hospitals and various PKRC throughout the state.

There were 726 new Person-Under-Investigation (PUI) reported for the day, bringing the cumulative total of PUIs to 59,348 to-date.

As for Person-Under-Surveillance (PUS), there were 353 individuals who have checked into designated quarantine centres for their compulsory quarantine today. This brings the total of current PUS to 5,765 individuals at 106 hotels and non-hotel quarantine centres statewide.

To-date, those who have completed their quarantine period numbered at 109,175. — Borneo Post Online