By Ling Hui
KUCHING, April 19: A Sungai Selitut construction worker at one of Tatau’s oil palm plantations who was found Covid-19 positive before reporting to his new job has infected 17 other individuals at his longhouse.
State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) said the 39-year-old Sarawakian male was identified as the index case to a community cluster at one of Sungai Selitut’s longhouses, hence the name “Sungai Selitut Cluster”.
The patient, it added, was confirmed to be positive for Covid-19 on April 10 following his screening test at Tatau health clinic on April 8.
“He did not show any signs or symptoms of Covid-19 infection and his movement only involved areas around the longhouse and his workplace.
“Further investigations and active contact detection (ACD) among his family members and close contacts at the longhouse have reported additional 17 positive cases,” said the committee in a statement today.
SDMC said a total of 65 individuals have been screened where 18 cases, including the index case, were found positive while 47 were negative in their first swab tests.
It assured that all the positive cases traced back to the cluster have been admitted into the Bintulu Hospital or the Bintulu Quarantine and Treatment Centres for Covid-19 (PKRC) for isolation and treatment purposes.
Sungai Selitut Cluster was only one among four new clusters declared today. The other three clusters were the Sungai Anus Cluster in Selangau, Sungai Passin Cluster in Matu and Sungai Duan Cluster in Mukah. — DayakDaily
