KUCHING, Aug 18: There has been a sharp increase in the Delta variant cases detected in Sarawak especially in the Kuching Division.
According to Prof Dr. David Perera who is the director of the Institute of Health and Community Medicine (IHCM), Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas), an overall detection rate of over 73 per cent had been recorded which is “a sharp increase” from the 50 per cent reported on August 3.
In his report to Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah today, he said for the Kuching Division alone, the Delta variant detection rate is approximately 90 per cent.
“This variant also continues to be detected in Bau, Lundu, Kota Samarahan, Simunjan, Miri and Bintulu.
“Additionally, we have detected eight Delta variant (cases) in Sibu,” he said.
Dr Perera said Unimas has been helping SDMC to track the SARS-COV-2 variants circulating in Sarawak.
“As part of this on-going surveillance, we would like to report that as of August 10, a total of 249 additional Variant of Concern (VOC) and Variant of Interest (VOI) were detected from 338 Covid-19 positive cases sequenced.
“Of these VOC or VOI, 248 were of the Delta Variant (B.1.617.2).
“There was one case of the recently described Indonesian VOI (B.1.466 2) which was detected in Bintulu,” he said.
He reported that a cumulative total of 592 cases related to VOC or VOI had been detected in Sarawak from positive Covid-19 cases as of August 10. — DayakDaily
