Sarawak’s 7-day clean streak ends as UK returnee tests positive

KUCHING: The state’s sevenday streak of no new Covid19 case ended yesterday a er a student who returned from the United Kingdom tested positive for the virus in Bintulu.

Sarawak Disaster Management Commi ee ( SDMC) chairman Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah said the imported case involved a 22year-old female who arrived at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) on July 1 before flying to Bintulu on July 3.

“She underwent a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test upon arrival at KLIA. The result was only made known 24 hours later.

“She was quarantined at a hotel in Bintulu while waiting for the result,” Uggah told a press conference here.

The latest case means a total of 572 Covid-19 cases have been recorded in Sarawak since the first case was detected on March 13. The death toll remained unchanged yesterday at 17.

According to Uggah, Sarawak has to take its own measures for Malaysians coming into the state from overseas, as international arrivals are not quarantined immediately upon arrival in Kuala Lumpur.

He said these travellers are required to undergo mandatory quarantine at designated hotels upon arrival in the state.

“They will be screened on the third day of quarantine. If they are found to be negative, they can continue their quarantine at home. They will be tested again on the 10th day. If they are still negative, a er 14 days of quarantine, they will be released.

“This is how we were able to detect the student who just returned from the UK,” he said.

For Malaysians and foreigners who have been in Malaysia since before the start of the pandemic, Uggah said they would be subjected to random PCR screenings upon arrival in the state.

On Bintulu’s status as a green zone, the deputy chief minister said this remained unchanged as the classification does not take into account imported Covid-19 cases.

He also said Kuching is currently the state’s sole yellow zone a er Sibu made it back into the green zone yesterday.

Meanwhile, Uggah said only six active cases remained in hospital as of yesterday, while 61 new Person Under Investigation cases were recorded with one still awaiting the lab test result.

He said there were also 110 new Person Under Surveillance cases, making it 663 persons undergoing quarantine in 12 hotels.