KUCHING, April 27: Another funeral gathering has sparked one of two new Covid-19 clusters declared in Kanowit today, which has been dubbed the Sungai Tuah Cluster involving a longhouse with 31 positive cases recorded.
The State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC), in its daily update report on the Covid-19 situation in Sarawak, informed that the cause of infections among residents of a longhouse located at Sungai Tuah area in Kanowit was due to a funeral ceremony attended by relatives from Miri, Julau and Sibu on April 12 followed by night prayers gathering for three consecutive days until April 14.
The index case or case 23,723 is a 41-year-old woman detected from symptomatic screening at Sibu Hospital and was later referred to a private hospital in Sibu on April 16.
Further investigation and active case detection (ACD) on close contacts to the case as well as targeted screening on longhouse residents have found 30 more positive cases.
As of today, a total of 83 individuals have been screened, whereby 52 tested negative while no cases were pending lab tests results.
All 31 cases have been referred to Sibu Hospital and Kanowit Hospital and admitted to the Quarantine and Low-Risk Treatment Centre (PKRC) under Sibu Hospital for isolation and treatment.
The other new cluster declared was named the Sungai Ngungun Cluster after a 67-year-old man who was suspected to have been infected with Covid-19 while in Kanowit to receive treatment in a hospital, had spread the virus to 25 others in a longhouse at Nangga Ngungun, Kanowit.
SDMC informed that the community cluster involved residents of a longhouse at the Nangga Ngungun resettlement area of Kanowit.
The index case or case 20,234 is a local man who was detected from second pre-treatment screening at Sibu Hospital on April 11.
He was suspected to have been infected in the community at Kanowit District while receiving treatment at the hospital and spreading the virus among the longhouse residents due to close contact.
Further investigation and screening on family members, casual contacts and targeted screening involving the longhouse residents revealed 25 more positive cases.
As of today, a total of 65 individuals have been screened whereby 39 were tested negative and no cases are pending lab test results.
All 26 positive cases were referred to Kanowit Hospital and admitted to PKRC under Sibu Hospital for isolation and treatment.
With two new clusters, Sarawak now has 63 active clusters, of which 15 clusters recorded an increase of total 114 new infections.
The clusters are Putai with 64 cases, Jalan Disa (12 cases), Sungai Passin (7 cases), Icom and Jalan Sebauh-Bintulu (6 cases each), Jalan Sultan Iskandar (5 cases), Sungai Anus (4 cases), Kampung Tengah Betong and Abak Bon (2 cases each) while Pujut Satu, Jalan Maju, Jalan Bambangan, Jalan Kapitan, Sungai Gemuan and Jalan Roban Lama recorded one case each. — DayakDaily
