KUCHING, Jan 6: The Stutong Cluster added a new Covid-19 case out of five cases reported in Sarawak today.
The remaining four imported cases were reported in Kuching (1) and Sibu (1) while Miri has two. This thus increased the state tally of positive cases to 1,166.
The State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC), in a statement today, revealed that Case 1,162 linked to Stutong Cluster was the workplace contact to Case 1,118.
The local man, who was asymptomatic, was detected from an active case detection operation. Investigation showed that he did not travel outside Sarawak or visited any high-risk areas.
The State Health Office Kuching is still actively conducting contact tracing for the cluster.
As for Case 1,163, the local man flew into Kuching from Miri to receive treatment at a private hospital on Jan 4.
Upon arrival, he proceeded to the hospital where he underwent a Covid-19 test before being allowed to go for health screening. The second test done at Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) returned positive on Jan 5.
The investigation discovered that the man had visited Kuala Lumpur from Dec 14 to 20 and had undergone quarantine for 14 days upon returning to the State.
The case had also taken screening during the quarantine period on Dec 22 and 28 but both test results were negative. He had complained of a cough since Dec 23. It was suspected that he could have been infected in Miri.
Contact tracing including in-flight passengers is currently being carried out by the Health Office of Kuching and Miri.
In Miri, Case 1,164 involved a local man who entered Sarawak via Miri Airport from Labuan International Airport on Dec 24.
Before returning, the case had taken the test on Dec 21 at a private lab and the result was negative. The case was ordered to observe quarantine at a centre and underwent screenings on Dec 26 which result was negative but the second test on Jan 1 returned positive.
Case 1,165 involved a local man and the colleague of Case 1,155, 1,156 and 1,157 who was screened upon arrival in the State on Dec 31 from Peninsular Malaysia.
Upon arrival at Miri Airport, he was ordered to serve quarantine at a rented house in Taman Jelita and took tests on Jan 2 which result was found positive on Jan 5.
In Sibu, Case 1,166 involved a local woman who returned from Johor on Jan 4 and was screened at the Sibu Airport.
The case together with two children was allowed to serve home quarantine for 14 days with wristbands given. A relative had personally picked up the family from the airport and sent them to a rented house in Taman Satria.
They were screened on Jan 4 and the results returned positive for the woman while the children were negative. Contact tracing for the case is still ongoing.
Meanwhile, SDMC informed three active clusters in Sarawak. No new cases were recorded in Bah Sayap Cluster in Miri which has a total of five cases (70 individuals screened with 42 negative and 23 awaiting results).
In the Stutong Cluster, Kuching added one new case to increase the total cases to 11. A total of 165 individuals have been screened with 148 negatives while six still awaiting results.
The Mador Cluster, Meradong did not record any new cases to maintain the total cases at eight. A total of 1,237 individuals have been screened with 308 negatives while 921 still awaiting results.
There were only two recoveries recorded in Sarawak today and patients have been discharged from SGH. Thus, the total number of recovered cases in Sarawak has increased to 1,081 or 92.71 percent of total positive cases so far.
With additional five cases, a total of 64 patients are still receiving treatment in hospitals with 27 in SGH, 16 in Miri Hospital, 15in Sibu Hospital, five in Bintulu Hospital and one in Sungai Buloh Hospital.
Kuching, Miri, Sibu, Bintulu, Meradong, Bukit Mabong and Lawas remained as yellow zones with a total of 27 local cases reported in the past 14 days.
There were 42 more persons-under-investigation (PUI) reported with seven cases pending laboratory test results.
SDMC updated that 372 more persons-under-surveillance (PUS) have registered into identified hotels to undergo quarantine.
As of today, there were a total number of 4,286 individuals undergoing quarantine in 43 hotels and quarantine facilities throughout the state. — DayakDaily
