By Adrian Lim
KUCHING, Feb 9: For the first time since the Pasai Cluster in Sibu was confirmed on Jan 9, there was no new case connected to the cluster reported today,
according to the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) in a press statement.
Nonetheless, there are still 122 individuals awaiting laboratory test results.
The Pasai Cluster, the most infectious Covid-19 cluster in Sarawak, has raged across many districts including interior areas like Belaga and Song.
So far, a total of 25,500 individuals have been screened for Covid-19 with 2,363 testing positive, 23,015 negative and the remaining 122 awaiting test results.
Meanwhile, Health Ministry director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah during a press conference in Putrajaya today disclosed that the Pasai Cluster has spread across sixth generations.
“The Health Ministry is still awaiting the full report from the Institute for Medical Research (IMR) on whether the infection occurring in the Pasai Cluster was due to a mutation which has been identified. There is a huge possibility that it could be from the existing D614G mutation because the infection occurred in rural areas.
“This is because the villagers were not exposed to the coronavirus. When a group is not exposed to the virus and they are infected, it could spread very fast,” he told reporters.
Dr Noor Hisham was responding to a question by a reporter about whether the Covid-19 strain from the Stutong Cluster and Keranji Tabuan Cluster in Kuching and the Pasai Cluster in Sibu were different.
Dr Noor Hisham noted the Pasai Cluster stemmed from a funeral ceremony in a longhouse which lasted over three consecutive days, and that residents from more than 58 longhouses in Sarawak were subsequently infected.
He revealed that the value of the Cycle Threshold (CT) for the Pasai Cluster was high, explaining that a high CT value means that the infection had happened over a period of time and the infection rate could decrease.
He believed the Covid-19 cases from the Pasai Cluster had spread quickly due to gatherings at longhouses.
Dr Noor Hisham asserted that lack of physical distancing and non-compliance with standard operating procedures (SOPs) by villagers in longhouses were among the reasons for the cluster’s wide reach.
Hence, he said the Health Ministry will conduct more testing among those in the rural areas.
Dr Noor Hisham stressed that one of the ministry’s strategies is to protect vulnerable groups in longhouses and rural areas from Covid-19.
In view of that, he reminded villagers and longhouse folks to prevent outsiders and strangers from visiting their villages. — DayakDaily
