KUCHING, April 2: Sarawak reported one new novel coronavirus (Covid-19) fatality and 23 new positive cases today.
With the latest figures, the cumulative number of deaths in Sarawak has risen to nine and the cumulative number of positive cases has reached 211 since the first positive case was registered on March 13.
State Disaster Management Committee chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas revealed that out of the 23 new positive cases, 21 cases are from Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) while two cases are from Sibu Hospital.
“Today, there are 91 cases of Person-Under-Investigation (PUI) reported which make the cumulative total 1,379 cases.
“From that total, the results of 1,082 cases are negative while 86 cases are awaiting laboratory results.
“As for new PUI cases, 63 are from Kuching in which 33 cases are detected from the Covid-19 fever triage centre at the Youth and Sports Complex and 30 cases are in SGH,” he told the media during a press conference at Wisma Bapa Malaysia here today.
Uggah who is also deputy chief minister added Samarahan has 16 new PUI cases, Asajaya (1), Serian (1), Betong (2), Mukah (1) and Bintulu (4) and Miri (3).
On another note, Uggah said Sarawak is well-prepared to handle the Covid-19 pandemic.
He revealed that SGH has approximately 100 beds in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and more than 1,000 beds to accommodate the potential increase in Covid-19 patients.
He added the state government has also identified several hospitals and healthcare facilities such as Kota Samarahan Heart Centre, Serian Hospital and Bau Hospital in the event that there is a need to use them to house Covid-19 patients.
In the meantime, state Health Department director Dr Chin Zin Hing revealed that there are seven medical officers, comprising five doctors and two nurses, who tested positive for Covid-19.
Meanwhile, Sarawak registered 32 Covid-19 cases yesterday, a significant increase from past days.
Uggah observed that most of the cases were from those who went for Covid-19 screening at the Youth and Sports Complex at Tun Ahmad Zaidi road here. — DayakDaily
