By Ling Hui
KUCHING, July 5: The number of Covid-19 cases in Sarawak has surged to 424 today due to an outbreak involving 113 patients in Miri at one of Kuala Baram’s plywood factories.
State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) said the upsurge that resulted in the new Industry 121 Cluster recorded 94.17 per cent of the total 120 positive cases in Miri of the day.
Of the 113 cases, it said 107 were non-Malaysians and the remaining six were Sarawakians.
“The factory’s workers quarters were placed under the Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO) from July 1 to 15 which involved some 210 occupants for the purpose of curbing the virus spread.
“A notice of order to close down the premises for 14 days from July 5 to 19, along with a compound of RM10,000 was issued to the management of the plant for the failure of ensuring less than 50 per cent workforce,” said SDMC in a statement today.
Meanwhile, other districts that saw double-digit infections were Kuching (92), Telang Usan (40), Meradong (34), Sibu (32), Sri Aman (19) and Kanowit (14).
The rest were Selangau (8), Bintulu (8), Sarikei (7), Mukah (7), Bau (7), Tatau (6), Kabong (5), Bukit Mabong (5), Subis (4), Samarahan (4), Kapit (3), Serian (3), Lundu (2), Julau (1), Belaga (1), Song (1) and Saratok (1).
With that, SDMC said the cumulative number of Covid-19 cases in the whole of Sarawak now stands at 66,985.
“Out of the 424 patients today, 238 were of individual screenings from active clusters where none showed signs and symptoms of Covid-19 infection.
“Another 140 cases were detected following close contact screenings where seven of them were symptomatic.
“Adding on, there were 29 cases that were of other screenings from health facilities, 15 cases from symptomatic screenings in health facilities, and two Import-A cases who just returned from Taiwan,” it said.
On the latest update on Covid-19 zones, Sarawak now has 26 red, three orange, 10 yellow zones and one green zone. Daro remains the only green zone in Sarawak until today. — DayakDaily
