MOH identifies Mambong as a new Covid-19 cluster

KUCHING: The Ministry of Health (MOH) has classified two of the previous Covid-19 positive cases detected in the Mambong area as the Mambong Cluster, said Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas.

"A total of 131 close contacts have been traced. This contact tracing involves 86 co-workers, 22 family members, 23 causal contacts and others.

"A total of 68 samples have been taken whereas the remaining 63 samples will be taken in the next one or two days," he told the daily update press conference here yesterday.

On the Engineering Firm Cluster which reported two positive cases before this, Uggah said the contact tracing involved 187 individuals including 130 coworkers, 33 family members and 24 others.

"All the results of the 187 samples taken came back negative."

Touching on the most recent Covid-19 death of an elderly man here, Uggah said that random contact tracing had been done at several locations which the deceased had visited.

"Today, a total of 217 initial screenings were done at the Stutong Community Market. Of the total, two individuals showed symptoms whereas 56 samples were taken.

"Tomorrow, screening will be done at the Green Road fresh market," he said, adding that similar screenings will also be done at other major markets in the coming two weeks.

Uggah clarified that the 18 individuals reported in Miri today were not person-underinvestigation (PUI) cases but patients of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) and

Influenza Like Illness (ILI).

He said Kuching and Bintulu also recorded these SARI and ILI cases, but these divisions did not classify them as PUI cases.

"We have also 11 in SGH (Sarawak General Hospital) and seven in Bintulu Hospital, but we don't classify them as PUI, just patients. We advise Miri (Hospital) to follow Kuching in terms of the definition of PUI to dispel fears in Miri," he added.

Uggah said it is the practice of the hospital to test these cases against Covid-19 given that are in the high-risk groups.

He also advised the private sector to refer to SDMC before making any statements in public with regards to the Covid-19 situation in the state.

"If the facts are not verified, the news will be based on rumours. It can indeed lead to a lot of confusion or panic among the public," he added.