By Ling Hui
KUCHING, Aug 18: Covid-19 cases in Sarawak has skyrocketed yet again today with 1,403 cases, which is by far the second highest record since the pandemic hit.
The highest daily caseload record was two days ago on Aug 16 when Sarawak reported 1,566 cases while the third time Sarawak registered cases over a thousand was on Aug 12, with 1,216 cases.
According to reports by State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) today, Kuching continued to lead the Covid-19 daily toll with 557 cases, followed by Serian with 247 and Samarahan with 228.
Other districts that saw double-digit numbers were Bau (99), Tebedu (49), Sibu (34), Pusa (33), Bintulu (25), Lundu (22), Sri Aman (22), Simunjan (20), Selangau (16) and Tatau (11).
The remaining districts with new infections included Mukah (8), Subis (6), Betong (5), Miri (4), Sebauh (4), Beluru (4), Asajaya (3), Kabong (2), Kapit (2) and Lubok Antu (2).
With that, SDMC said the cumulative number of Covid-19 cases in Sarawak now stands at 90,810.
“Out of the 1,403 patients, 884 were detected following close contact screenings where 81 of them were symptomatic.
“Another 113 cases were of individual screenings from active clusters where 20 of them showed signs and symptoms of Covid-19 infection.
“Adding on, 130 cases were of symptomatic screenings, 271 cases were from other screenings in health facilities, and five were Import-B cases from Sabah, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Perak,” SDMC said in a statement on Covid-19 updates today.
Of the total, SDMC noted 1,159 cases or 82.61 per cent from Category 1 whereby the patients do not develop any symptoms.
There were 240 patients with mild symptoms from Category 2, zero from Category 3, two with lung infections while requiring oxygen in Category 4 and two Category 5 patients who needs the support of a ventilator.
On Covid-19 fatality, two new cases were recorded in Sibu and Kuching today, raising the Covid-19 death toll to 491.
The 71-year-old male from Sibu had been putting up with  hypertension, diabetes, gout and stroke while the 88-year-old female from Kuching suffered from hypertension.
Meanwhile, 1,063 patients were discharged from hospitals across Sarawak, so there remain 9,936 active cases in isolation or treatment.— DayakDaily
