By Karen Bong
KUCHING, Sept 30: Four domestically imported Covid-19 cases were reported in Sarawak with two cases in Kuching and two in Miri today.
State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said that this raised the state tally of positive cases to 713.
He said that case 710 is a local woman who returned to Miri from Kuala Lumpur after a visit on Sept 23, arriving in Miri Airport on Sept 28.
“Upon arrival in Miri, the case had undergone random screening and her rT-PCR test returned positive on the same day.
“She was asymptomatic and is now isolated and treated in Miri Hospital. Contact tracing activities including in flight and in Kuala Lumpur are being conducted,” he told a press conference on Covid-19 here today.
Meanwhole case 711 is a local student of Skills Institute in Miri who had returned from Papar, Sabah via Kota Kinabalu on Sept 28.
The case, Uggah reported, had undergone test on Sept 24 in Sabah before entering Sarawak in which the test result was negative.
“Upon arrival in Miri, the case retook the test as the result submitted had exceeded the three-day requirement period. The case was instructed to observe 14-day home quarantine.
“However, the test result returned positive on the same day. Investigation also found that the case had flu on Sept 24. Contact tracing is underway,” he added.
Case 712 is an enforcement officer who was among the team assigned on duty to Sabah for the state election. They departed on Sept 25 and returned using special flight via the Royal Malaysian Air Force Base on Sept 28.
Uggah said that all officers have been on a 14-day quarantine order including swab tests carried out on the second and 10th day.
“The test on the second day for the case was found positive on Sept 29 but he did not show any symptoms. He has been isolated and treated at the Sarawak General Hospital (SGH).
“Up until today, 501 enforcement officers returned from Sabah have undergone the first Covid-19 tests,” he explained.
Case 713 is a trainer from the Ministry of Health who had returned from Menggatal, Sabah after a holiday.
“The case had taken a test in Sabah on Sept 22, which was negative, before entering Sarawak on Sept 27 via Kota Kinabalu.
“Upon arrival at Kuching International Airport (KIA), the case was rescreened as the test result submitted had exceeded the three-day requirement period. Thereafter, the case was ordered to observe home quarantine for 14 days.
“The test result returned positive on the same day. The case was asymptomatic and contact tracing is ongoing,” he added.
With additional four patients today, Uggah revealed that there were a total of 12 patients receiving treatment in hospitals in the state currently with six in SGH, five in Miri Hospital and one in Bintulu Hospital.
“Lawas and Kuching are the only two districts labelled as yellow zones in Sarawak as there were three local cases in Lawas and one local case in Kuching recorded within the past 14 days,” he said.
There were also no recoveries and discharges reported today and as such, the total number of recovered cases in Sarawak to 682 or 95.65 per cent of total positive cases so far.
Sarawak also recorded 14 more persons-under-investigation (PUI) with one case pending laboratory test results.
There were also 35 more persons-under-surveillance (PUS) checked in to identified hotels to undergo quarantine.
As of today, there were a total number of 848 individuals undergoing quarantine in 11 hotels throughout the state. —DayakDaily
