KUCHING, July 16 — The Sarawak Disaster Management Committee today clarified that the 16 people categorised as persons-under-investigation (PUI) for Covid-19 in Miri Hospital are not positive cases as reported.
Its chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah said they are Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) or Influenza-Like Illness (ILI) patients.
“As part of the supervision protocol, they are screened whether they have Covid-19 symptoms or not. This is a precautionary step to ensure that they are negative for Covid-19,” Uggah told reporters during his media briefing.
He said the reports that Miri now has Covid-19 positive cases have caused panic among the city’s residents.
“When PUI was mentioned, the public thought that there are already positive cases in Miri. That is not true,” he said.
He added Miri Hospital is not the only one treating PUI cases, adding that such cases are also treated at the Sarawak General Hospital and Bintulu Hospital.
He said the Mambong area in Padawan district has been declared a new Covid-19 cluster after two people tested positive for Covid-19.
He added the state Health Department has identified 131 close contacts of the two cases, involving 86 co-workers, 22 family members and 23 casual acquaintances.
“A total of 68 samples has already been taken, while another 63 will be taken over the next one or two days,” he said.
He said 187 close contacts of two positive cases from an engineering consultancy, involving 130 co-workers, 33 family members and 24 others all tested negative for Covid-19.
