KUCHING, Oct 10 — Nine new Covid-19 positive cases were recorded in Sarawak today, bringing the cumulative number of cases in the state to 751, the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) announced in a statement.
Of the total, four of these new cases were individuals who returned from high-risk areas, four others were detected as a result of close contact screening to an earlier Covid-19 positive case and one was detected via an early screening test on a worker.
SDMC chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said the four cases detected in Kuching were security personnel who returned from Sabah after being stationed there for the Sabah election. They left with other team members on September 25 and returned to Sarawak on September 28 via the Royal Malaysian Air Force Base in Kuching.
Upon arrival in Kuching, there were placed under 14-days quarantine at Pulapol and they tested negative for the first screening on September 28. Their second screening on October 8 returned positive results for the disease today. All were asymptomatic and have been admitted to the Sarawak General hospital (SGH) for treatment.
A new cluster, named the ‘Taman Putrajaya Cluster’ has also emerged in Bintulu, with the index case for this cluster involving Case 733, who was confirmed as Covid-19 positive on October 8 and had a history of travelling to Perak and Kuala Lumpur on September 24-27.
“The fifth case involves an Indonesian who went for a health screening before starting work at a private hospital on October 9 and tested positive for the virus on the same day. The case was asymptomatic and was then admitted to SGH for further treatment,” said Uggah at a press conference at the old DUN building today.
“This case is under further investigation and close contact tracing is being carried out. Until the investigation is completed, this case is categorised as a local transmission as the case did not record entering into the state.”
For the four cases in Bintulu, Uggah said that they were close contact screenings to Case 733 which was detected on October 9 and all of the new cases returned positive results for the virus on the same day.
The first one is an insurance company clerk who had close contact with Case 733 and had shown early symptoms on October 5.
The second and third are children of Case 733 who are still schooling, and one is a local university student, who live in the same house. One of them came down with a fever on October 8 while the other is asymptomatic.
The fourth case is a young relative of Case 733 who visited the house on October 1, and is currently asymptomatic.
All four were admitted to Bintulu Hospital for treatment and contact tracing is still ongoing, he said.
Meanwhile, one recovery and discharge was recorded at SGH today, bringing the total number of recoveries in the state to 685 or 91.21 per cent of the overall cases.
“There are 47 patients currently being treated and isolated at hospitals throughout the state, of which 28 are treated at SGH, eight at Miri Hospital, seven at Bintulu Hospital and four at Sibu Hospital,” he said. None are currently being treated at intensive care units.
On the number of persons-under-investigation (PUI), 23 new cases were reported today and three are still awaiting test results.
The death toll in the state remains unchanged at 19. — Borneo Post
