Sports association meeting triggers new cluster

KUCHING: A new Covid19 cluster dubbed the Jalan Stadium Negeri Cluster has been declared in Kuching, said the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC).

In a statement, the committee said it is a social cluster involving a sports association technical meeting at Jalan Stadium, Petra Jaya here on April 30.

“One of the attendees of the meeting tested positive on May 5 and he was the index case for the cluster,” it said.

The index case involved a 65year-old man who was screened at Petra Jaya health clinic on May 3 and the result came back positive on May 5.

The index case had been infected from the community before spreading it to other attendees of the meeting who went on to infect their family members as well, added the committee.

It said further investigations and contact tracing had discovered 16 new cases, excluding the index case, and a total of 55 individuals had been screened so far.

The remaining 38 individuals who were screened tested negative for Covid-19 in their first swab test.

“All 17 positive patients have been referred to Sarawak General Hospital and they were admitted to a Covid-19 treatment and quarantine centre (PKRC) under the supervision of the hospital for further treatment and isolation.”

The 38 close contacts who had tested negative were admitted to a quarantine centre for isolation purpose.

Meanwhile, 16 out of the 76 active Covid-19 clusters in the state reported a total of 82 new cases yesterday.

The clusters that reported new cases were Sungai Kawi Cluster in Meradong with two cases, Ulu Balingian Cluster in Selangau (1),

Sungai Rian Cluster in Meradong (3), Sungai Lemayong Cluster in Meradong (4), Jalan Selirik Cluster in Kapit (4), Rayang Cluster in Serian (1), Sungai Senibung Cluster in Julau (3) and Sungai Ranan Cluster in Kanowit (4).

The rest were the Sungai Nirai Cluster in Selangau with one case, Mongkos Cluster in Tebedu (3), Bungey Cluster in Betong (1), Jalan Sawit Cluster in Sarikei (37), Beladin Cluster in Pusa (11), Jalan Limbang Cluster in Miri (5), Tebedu Mawang Cluster in Tebedu (1) and Jalan Stadium Negeri Cluster in Kuching (1).