Two deaths in Sarawak, 100 new infections

KUCHING: Sarawak yesterday recorded two Covid-19 deaths as the number of new infections once again hit triple digits.

Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah said the 100 new cases recorded yesterday raised the state’s cumulative infections to 2,211.

“The deaths were recorded in Miri and Sibu, bringing the state’s Covid19 death toll to 21 to date,” he told a press conference here.

He said the Miri death involved the 42-year-old man who was mentioned in SDMC’s daily update on Sunday, after clinical investigation determined the cause of death to be from Covid-19.

The man was unconscious when he was admitted to Miri Hospital on Jan 13 and passed away the following day.

A swab taken that day came back positive for Covid-19 on Jan 16, but it was undetermined at the time if the death was due to the virus as the case had a history of comorbidity such as diabetes, high blood pressure and Hepatitis C.

Uggah said the second death involved a 55-year-old Sarawakian who was a contact to a positive case in the Pasai Cluster in Sibu.

He said the man, from Kanowit District, was tested positive for Covid-19 on Jan 15 and admitted to Sibu Hospital the same day.

“This case was a contact to a positive case in the Pasai Cluster screened on Jan 12. He also had high blood pressure, diabetes and kidney infection, and was confirmed to have died at 1.41am today (yesterday),” he said.

Of the 100 new cases, Uggah informed that Sibu again recorded the most with 37, followed by Beluru (27), Betong (7), Miri (7), Kuching (6),

Bintulu (4), Selangau (4), Sri Aman (3), Lubok Antu (3), Sarikei (1) and Kanowit (1).

According to him, most of the new cases are linked to the Pasai Cluster, namely 28 out of the 37 cases in Sibu, all 27 in Beluru, six of the seven in Betong, one of the seven in Miri, all four in Selangau, and each of the new case in Sarikei and Kanowit.

One case in Miri is linked to the Jelita Cluster while two in Kuching are from the Stutong Cluster, he added.

The other new cases involved individuals undergoing screening at health facilities, returnees to the state, individuals screened through active case detection, and close contacts of previously detected cases.

Meanwhile, Uggah said Sarawak recorded six new Covid-19 recoveries yesterday comprising five at Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) and one at Sibu Hospital.

“As of today (yesterday), 1,180 or 53.37 per cent of total cases have recovered and were discharged.

“A total of 1,010 cases are still being treated at hospital isolation wards, of which 603 are in Sibu Hospital, 239 in Miri Hospital, 117 in SGH, 49 in Bintulu Hospital and one each in Limbang Hospital and Kapit Hospital,” he said.

There were also 133 new PersonUnder-Investigation (PUI) cases reported yesterday with 30 of them still awaiting lab test results.