Two more deaths, 199 new cases in Sarawak
KUCHING: Sarawak recorded 199 new Covid-19 cases along with two more deaths in Sibu yesterday, State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said.
This brought the state’s Covid-19 tally to 7,624 cases and 69 deaths.
Uggah told a press conference yesterday that the 68th death involved a 59-year-old Sarawakian man who was admitted at Sibu Hospital with symptoms of fever, cough and difficulty in breathing.
He said the patient’s Covid-19 rT-PCR in the hospital returned positive on Feb 16.
“The health condition of the patient had deteriorated and he was pronounced dead on Feb 18. The case also had comorbidities of high blood pressure and diabetes,” said Uggah, who is also a deputy chief minister.
As for the 69th death, Uggah said the deceased was an 83-year-old woman who had been treated at the Sibu Hospital for shortness of breath.
“The case experienced symptoms of fever, cough and loss of appetite a few days ago. The rT-PCR test screening that was done at the hospital was found positive on Feb
8.
“The health condition of the case was found to be deteriorating and she was confirmed dead on February
19. The case also had comorbidities of high blood pressure, diabetes and dyslipidemia,” he said.
The majority of new cases in the state today was in Sibu at 126, followed by Kapit (15), Sri Aman and Bintulu (13 each), Kuching (seven), Miri (six), Dalat (five), Kanowit (five), Meradong (four), Subis (two), and one each in Samarahan, Serian and Beluru.
Out of Sibu’s 126 cases, 103 cases were individuals screened through active case detection (ACD) of contacts of Covid-19 cases, 15 were individuals screened at healthcare centres in the district, and eight were screening of symptomatic individuals.
In Kapit District, nine were from the Pasai Cluster, two were individuals screened at healthcare centre in the district, two were screening of symptomatic individuals, one was result of ACD, and one from the screening of healthcare workers
In Sri Aman District, eight were Indonesian citizens who had been detained by the authorities and have been categorised as imported cases, four were from the new Kejatau Cluster, and one a result of ACD and categorised as imported case from Samarahan.
In Bintulu District, 10 cases were results of ACD, two from Jun Heng Cluster and one from the screening of a symptomatic individual.
In Kuching District, three cases were from the new Jalan Green Cluster, two were imported cases involving Sarawakians screened after returning from high-risk infection areas in the country (Kuala Lumpur), one screening of a symptomatic individual, and one individual screened at healthcare centre.
In Miri District, three cases were from ACD and three were individuals screened at healthcare centre.
All the five cases in Dalat were results of ACD, while all four cases in Meradong were results of screening of symptomatic individuals. Both of the cases in Subis were also from ACD.
The single case in Samarahan involved a prenatal screening at a healthcare facility in Samarahan district.
The one case each in Serian and Beluru were from two different clusters, namely Univista Cluster and Seruas Cluster.
Meanwhile, Uggah said there were 121 cases of recovery and discharge yesterday from, namely, Sibu Hospital (73), Kapit Hospital (17), Sarawak General Hospital (13), Miri Hospital (10), Sarikei Hospital (4) and Bintulu Hospital (4).
“As of today, 5,479 or 71.87 per cent of total cases have recovered and discharged. A total of 2,047 cases are still being treated at hospitals,” he said.
Sibu Hospital has the most patients at 1,136, followed by 309 in Miri Hospital, 198 in Kapit Hospital, 171 in Sarawak General Hospital, 162 in Bintulu Hospital, 55 in Sarikei Hospital, 14 in Sri Aman Hospital, and one each in Limbang Hospital and Lawas Hospital.