Kuching District turns red with 49 cases in last two weeks
KUCHING: Sarawak yesterday recorded 16 locally transmitted new Covid-19 cases in Kuching District, which has now turned into red zone after recording a total of 49 locally transmitted cases in the past 14 days.
The latest cases brought the total number of positive cases in the state to 819, said Deputy Chief Minister and State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah at a press conference here yesterday.
He added that out of those cases, 12 were from Baki Cluster.
“Twelve new cases were detected through active contact tracing in Kampung Haji Baki. These cases have undergone screening on Oct 24 and the rT-PCR test results on Oct 25 showed that they are positive. All are close contacts of the index case.
“These cases are in the age range of seven to 75 years, with three primary school pupils, two secondary school students, five adults and two senior citizens. Only one case displayed symptoms of Covid-19.
“All cases have been admitted to Sarawak General Hospital isolation ward for further treatment,” he said.
On other new cases, Uggah informed that there were three new cases detected through close contact screening at a private health facility in Kuching.
“These cases are contacts to the 798th case that was reported on October 26.
“All of these cases have undergone private screening at a private health facility on Oct 26 after the 798th case was confirmed positive. The results of the rT-PCR test found that these cases were positive for Covid-19 on the same day,” he said.
The other new case was detected through Active Case Detection (ACD) conducted by the Sarawak State Health Department on Oct 25.
Uggah explained that the case is a local man doing business in one of the leading business areas in Kuching City.
“The case underwent screening on Oct 25, and the rT-PCR test results on Oct 26 has found the case to be positive of Covid-19,” he said.
All the four cases have no history of travel to high-risk infection areas and have no contact with a positive case.
All have been admitted to Sarawak General Hospital (SGH)’s isolation ward for further treatment.
As the sources of infection are still under investigation, these cases are classified as local transmissions based on the early history of the patients’ movements, until the actual causes are found. Contact tracing is being done actively.
Uggah also informed that four clusters are still active in Sarawak, namely Bah Arnab in Kuching, Putra in Bintulu, Baki in Kuching, and Seladah in Kuching.
Meanwhile, Uggah informed that there were four cases of recovery and discharge for the day, two SGH two Miri
“As of today, 736 or 89.87 per cent of total cases have recovered and discharged.
“A total of 64 cases are still being treated at hospitals’ isolation wards.
“Out of that, 63 cases are being treated at SGH, and one case at Miri Hospital.
He added that there were no cases being treated at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
There were 20 Person-UnderInvestigation (PUIs) cases yesterday, with three still awaiting lab results.
This brings the cumulative total of PUIs to 10,011 to date.
Yesterday 170 PersonUnder-Surveillance (PUS) checked into hotels for their compulsory quarantine. This brings the total of current PUS to 2,030 individuals at 23 hotels statewide.
To date, 28,388 individuals have completed their quarantine.
With no deaths reported, the state’s death toll remains at 19 or 2.32 per cent of total cases.