Five new Covid-19 cases in Sarawak, Bintulu now yellow zone

KUCHING: Sarawak recorded five new Covid-19 cases yesterday in Kuching and Bintulu, with the latter district now classified as a yellow zone, said Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah.

The deputy chief minister said the three cases in Kuching and two in Bintulu raised the total number of Covid-19 cases in Sarawak to 696.

“All five cases are locally transmitted based on initial findings. Further contact tracing is being done,” he told a press conference here.

According to him, Case 692 is a 24-year-old Indonesian construction worker who went for self-screening on Aug 23 at a private hospital here as a requirement for new employment.

He did not show any symptoms but was found positive for Covid19 on the same day.

“Case 693, a 50-year-old Indonesian construction worker who is an acquaintance of Case 692, also went for self-screening that same day as a requirement for new employment and was also found to be positive for Covid-19 that day and also showed no symptoms.

“Both of them have been isolated and warded at Sarawak General Hospital (SGH),” he said.

Continuing, he said Case 694 is a 35-year-old woman who works as a graphics designer here, who was screened for Covid-19 when seeking antenatal treatment at a private hospital on Aug 23 and

Case 693, a 50-year-old Indonesian construction worker who is an acquaintance of Case 692, also went for self-screening that same day as a requirement for new employment and was also found to be positive for Covid-19 that day and also showed no symptoms. Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah

tested positive the same day.

“The woman showed no symptoms and has been isolated and warded at SGH,” he said.

For Case 695, Uggah said it involved a 40-year-old local man who works as a chargeman at an oil rig in Bintulu.

The man arrived in Miri from Selangor via a flight from Kuala Lumpur on July 18 to undergo a three-day work training, before proceeding to Bintulu on July 22 and reporting for duty the next day.

Upon returning from the oil rig at Bintulu Port on Aug 20, he immediately underwent quarantine at a hotel in Bintulu, with his sample taken the following day.

“His result returned positive for Covid-19 on Aug 23 and he was immediately brought to Bintulu Hospital for isolation and treatment. He is asymptomatic,” said Uggah.

Case 696 is a 40-year-old Indonesian man who works as an insulator for a company at the Samalaju industrial area in Bintulu.

Uggah said the man underwent screening at a private hospital on Aug 22 because he planned to go back to his home country afterwards.

However, he said the man’s lab test result returned positive for Covid-19 on Aug 23, and he was immediately isolated and warded at Bintulu Hospital.

“Case 696 has been staying in Sarawak since 2015 and has no record of overseas travel since,” he added.

Meanwhile Uggah said six Covid-19 clusters remain active in Sarawak, namely the Engineering Firm Cluster with eight cases, Mambong Cluster (7), Sentosa Cluster (31), Melbourne PUI Cluster (3), Satok Market Cluster (4), and Bintulu Alam Cluster (7).

No new recoveries were recorded yesterday, while 15 active cases are being treated in hospitals across the state – nine in Bintulu Hospital, four in SGH, and one each in Sibu Hospital and Miri Hospital.

Uggah also reported that five new person-under-investigation (PUI) cases and 116 new personunder-surveillance ( PUS) cases were recorded yesterday.

“The number of cases being isolated and quarantined in 14 hotels across Sarawak is 819,” he said.

Sarawak’s Covid-19 death toll stands at 19.