Covid-19: Kuching back in red zone as local infections soar to 53

KUCHING: Kuching district reverted into a Covid-19 red zone yesterday with 16 local infections reported, bringing the total number of locally-transmitted cases in the district to 53 in a 14-day period, the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) announced.

SDMC chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah said Serian and Lundu districts also turned from green to yellow zones a er recording two and one locally-transmitted cases, respectively.

There are now four yellow zones in Sarawak, including Bau and Samarahan.

The Health Ministry classifies districts with more than 40 cases over a two-week period as red zones; 40 and below as yellow zones; and those with no cases as green zones.

Uggah said in total, 25 new positive Covid-19 cases were recorded in Sarawak with Kuching recording 21 cases, Serian ( 2), Samarahan ( 1) and Lundu (1), bringing the cumulative number of positive cases in the state to 675.

The death toll remained unchanged at 19, as no deaths were reported yesterday.

Uggah added that four new cases were classified as imported cases, all involving visitors entering Sarawak or returnees from overseas.

“The first and second case are a non-citizen couple who returned from the United Kingdom on July 23. They had transited in Doha, Qatar before continuing their journey to Kuala Lumpur on July 24 and entered Sarawak through Kuching International Airport on July 25.

“Both of them had undergone reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rTPCR) tests at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) on July 24 but tested negative. However, their rT-PCR tests when quarantined in a hotel in Kuching tested positive. They were both asymptomatic,” he said.

For the third case, he said it involved a local female student who returned from South Korea on July 11 to Kuala Lumpur and then Kuching on July 25, adding that her early RTK Antigen test in KLIA came back negative.

“Her rT-PCR test on the second day of being quarantined in a hotel in Kuching tested positive. She did not show any signs or symptoms,” Uggah said.

The fourth case was a local man working in South America who returned to Kuala Lumpur via London and Abu Dhabi on

July 23 and arrived in Kuala Lumpur on July 25.

“The RTK Antigen screening taken on July 25 also tested negative. The rT-PCR test on the second day of being quarantined in a hotel in Kuching also returned positive. He was also asymptomatic,” he said.

Uggah also said random screening at international entry points found one case involving a local man with a travel history to Kuala Lumpur on July 14.

The case was chosen randomly to undergo screening on July 25 at a government health clinic and his rT-PCR test was found positive on July 27, he added.

“The case also had a travel history to Miri and Sibu on June 29 and July 24 respectively and did not show any signs or symptoms.”

He said for random screenings carried out on healthcare workers, one case was recorded involving a healthcare worker at a facility in Lundu.

“The case was swabbed a er making a declaration of having visited an outbreak area in the workplace.

“Swab samples for rT-PCR were taken on July 27 and were found to be positive on the same day. The source of infection is still being investigated and contact tracing is still underway,” Uggah said.