KUCHING, May 22: The Jalan Simpang Tiga Cluster which was linked to a shopping mall at Kenyalang Park here picked up another 18 new Covid-19 positive cases today, taking the cluster’s total to 32 cases so far.
The cluster was identified and declared yesterday after 14 individuals came down with Covid-19 and have been referred to Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) as well as Quarantine and Low-Risk Treatment Centres (PKRCs) in Kuching and Serian for treatment and isolation.
According to the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC)’s daily update report on Covid-19 situation in Sarawak, it revealed that 89 individuals have been screened whereby 30 tested negative while 27 are still awaiting lab test results.
Last night, Minister for Local Government and Housing Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian shared in his Facebook post that the emergence of this shopping mall cluster was inevitable given the high number of people visiting the mall every day.
While it is not the first shopping mall cluster, he viewed that it will not be the last if crowd control measures were not immediately taken.
As such, he assured that the local councils would soon work with the management of shopping malls in Sarawak on limiting the number of patrons based on usable floor areas at any one time which was practiced by Singapore.
Meanwhile, this was one of 13 active clusters in Sarawak that reported an increase in daily infections today with a total of 52 cases.
The other 12 clusters were Hulu Spaoh in Betong which added 11 cases, Jalan Agama in Miri (6 cases), Tebakang in Serian (5 cases), Beladin in Pusa (3 cases) and Jalan Lilin in Miri (2 cases); while Jalan Endap Sawit in Samarahan, Stungang in Lundu, Jalan Limbang in Miri, Emperan in Selangau, Jalan Selirik in Kapit, Sungai Ranan in Kanowit and Putai in Bukit Mabong with one case each.— DayakDaily
