Sarawak records 21 new infections, cumulative total up to 927

KUCHING: Sarawak’s cumulative number of Covid19 cases rose to 927 after 21 new infections were recorded yesterday.

Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC), in a statement, said 12 cases were recorded in the Red Zone district of Kuching, while Miri, Lawas and Lundu districts each recorded three cases.

“Eight of the cases recorded in Kuching were detected from the Green Hill Cluster and these cases were detected through close-contact screening to the identified Covid-19 positive cases. Six were close contacts of Case 877, which was reported on Oct 31.

“These cases underwent screening at a government health clinic on Nov 1 and were confirmed to be positive on Nov 2.

“Two of these cases suffered from fever and cough on Oct 31 and Nov 1,” it said.

SDMC said another case from this cluster involved a local woman – a friend of Case 832 – who was asymptomatic and went for Covid-19 screening at a government health clinic on Nov 1.

“We also detected a case involving a local man who had contact with Case 876. He is asymptomatic and also went for Covid-19 screening at a government health clinic on Nov 1.”

The committee added that these cases, aged between 20 and 60, had been admitted to Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) for further treatment.

The other four new infections in Kuching comprised three cases from the Wisma Saberkas Cluster, involving local individuals who run an electronics business at Wisma Saberkas, and one imported case from Peninsular Malaysia.

“These three (Wisma Saberkas Cluster) cases, all of whom are women aged between 55 and 60, were detected through active case detection (ACD) screening, which was conducted on Nov 2.

“All three are asymptomatic and have been admitted to the isolation ward at SGH for further treatment,” said SDMC, adding that contact-tracing for these cases are underway.

The imported case, meanwhile, involved a local man who returned from Selangor via Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) 1 to Kuching on Oct 22.

“The case underwent Covid19 screening upon arrival at Kuching International Airport and his rT-PCR (reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) test had turned up negative initially.

“He was placed on mandatory 14-day quarantine at a hotel quarantine centre where he underwent a second screening on Oct 31. The rT-PCR test on the 10th day of this case was found to be positive on Nov 2.”

SDMC noted that this case was categorised as ‘Import B’ as the individual, who is asymptomatic and has since been admitted to SGH, was infected while in Selangor.

For Miri District, the committee said two of the three new cases were linked to the Green Hill Cluster in that both were friends of Case 829.

“One case had eaten together with Case 829 and both new cases were detected through close-contact screening to the Covid-19 positive case,” it said, adding that the two cases – categorised as local infections – were asymptomatic and had been admitted to Miri Hospital for further treatment.

The third case, said SDMC, involved a local man who was screened because he had close contact with Cases 828, 830 and 831, which were reported on Oct 28.

“He was screened on Oct 30 and the results of the rT-PCR test turned up positive on Nov 2.

“The case showed no sign and symptom of Covid-19 infection and had been admitted to the isolation ward in Miri Hospital for further treatment.”

For Lawas District, all three new infections were import cases involving locals – a man, his wife and their baby – who had just returned from Beaufort, Sabah.

“They returned to Lawas via Merapok Immigration, Customs, Quarantine and Security (ICQS) Complex on Oct 29 and were admitted to a hotel quarantine centre for the 14-day mandatory quarantine.

“The age range of these cases is between one and 27 years old.

“The mother of this one-yearold baby works in Sabah,” said SDMC, adding that the cases were screened on Oct 31 at the quarantine centre and their rT-PCR tests were found to be positive on Nov 2.

“All of them were asymptomatic and had been referred to Miri Hospital for further treatment.

“They are categorised as ‘Import B’ as they were infected in a high-risk Covid-19 area, namely Sabah.”

As for Lundu District, the three new cases were detected through ACD which was conducted at Kampung Teluk Melano.

The cases involved locals

– two women and a man – aged between 34 and 62 years who were screened on Nov 1 and found to be positive the next day.

“Two of these cases suffered from fever and cough from Oct 30 to 31.

“They have all been admitted to SGH for further treatment,” said SDMC.

The committee also said active case tracing activities were conducted at Kampung Teluk Melano following a positive case, Case 871, who was detected and reported on Oct 30.

“As at noon on Nov 3, a total of 333 individuals had been screened at Teluk Melano, resulting in four positive cases (including Case 871),

244 negative cases and 85 individuals awaiting test results,” it said.

Meanwhile, SDMC said two Covid-19 patients recovered yesterday and were allowed to be discharged from SGH.

“This brings the total number of recoveries in the state to 763 – or 82.42 per cent out of the overall number of cases,” it said.

It also said 145 patients were still being treated at hospitals throughout Sarawak – 117 in SGH, 23 in Miri Hospital, three in Bintulu Hospital, and two in Sibu Hospital.

With no new fatality recorded, the number of Covid-19 deaths in Sarawak remained at 19.