Sarawak records 255 new Covid-19 cases, 1 death

KUCHING: Sarawak recorded 255 new positive Covid-19 cases yesterday and also the death of an infected case, said the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC).

It said the 81st death involved a 77-year-old man, who was admitted to Sibu Hospital after having tested positive for the virus on Feb 13, detected via close contact-tracing of previous positive cases.

“The health condition of the case deteriorated, and he was pronounced dead on Feb 27. The case had a comorbidity of high blood pressure, dyslipidemia, and stroke.

“This case was linked to an active cluster, which is the Geronggang Cluster in Sibu,” said SDMC in its daily update on Covid-19 yesterday.

Overall, 106 new positive cases were detected in Sibu District, 27 in Selangau, 26 in Miri, 22 in Kapit, 13 in Bintulu, 12 in Kuching, 11 in Betong, nine in Kanowit, eight in Sri Aman, five in Dalat, five in Bukit Mabong, four in Bau, two in Pusa, two in Saratok, and one each in Meradong, Sarikei and Subis districts.

This brought the cumulative number of cases in Sarawak to 9,374 cases.

Of the 106 cases detected in Sibu District, 77 involved individuals screened via active case detection (ACD) of contacts to Covid-19-positive cases, 16 from the screening of symptomatic individuals at healthcare centre in the district, 12 from the screening at the healthcare centre in the district, and one involved a health worker.

In Selangau, all 27 new cases were detected from the Buloh Cluster.

In Miri, 15 cases involved individuals screened via ACD, eight from screening at the healthcare centre in the district, and three from the screening of symptomatic individuals.

In Kapit, 20 cases were linked to Gelong Cluster, one linked to Jan Yong Cluster, and one involve the screening at the healthcare centre there.

In Bintulu, 10 cases were linked to ACD of close-contacts to positive cases, two from screening of symptomatic individuals, and one from the screening at the healthcare centre.

In Kuching, eight cases were from ACD of close-contacts to positive cases, three were linked to Emperoh Jambu Cluster, and one involved screening at the healthcare centre.

In Betong, 10 cases were linked to Jalan Muhibbah Cluster, and one was from ACD.

The nine cases in Kanowit District were linked to ACD of close-contacts to positive cases.

The seven cases in Sri Aman were linked to Jalan Muhibbah Cluster, while one involved the screening at a healthcare centre there.

In Dalat, three cases were from the screening of symptomatic individuals, and two were from ACD.

All five cases in Bukit Mabong District were linked to Gelong Cluster.

The four cases in Bau were detected from ACD.

The two cases in Saratok were from ACD of close-contacts, while the two cases in Pusa were from screening of symptomatic individuals.

The one case in Meradong was linked to Sungai Bakong Cluster, and a case in Subis was from the screening of symptomatic individuals.

Also yesterday, Sarawak recorded 242 cases of recoveries/ discharges – 98 cases in Miri Hospital, 77 in Sibu Hospital, 46 in the quarantine centre (PKRC) under Kapit Hospital, 11 in Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) in Kuching, eight in Bintulu Hospital, and two in Sarikei Hospital.

This brought the total number of recoveries/discharges in Sarawak to 6,862 – or 73.2 per cent from the total cases, said SDMC.

“A total of 2,397 cases are still being treated in hospitals, out of which 1,161 are in Sibu Hospital, 384 in SGH, 282 in Bintulu Hospital, 212 in Sarikei Hospital, 188 in PKRC Kapit, 137 in Miri Hospital, and 33 in PKRC Sri Aman. There were 256 new PUI (person-under-investigation) cases recorded today (yesterday), with three still awaiting laboratory results,” said the committee.