By Adrian Lim
KUCHING, July 10: Two new positive cases of Covid-19 reemerged from Kuching after one day of zero positive cases reported yesterday.
The information was revealed by State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) in a press statement.
SDMC said one case involved a local man who sought treatment at Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) on July 5 after he experienced breathing difficulties and exhaustion on July 1.
The committee added that the patient has diabetes and hypertension and he was admitted to the isolation ward upon admission.
SDMC said the patient’s polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test for Covid-19 was confirmed positive on July 9.
The committee added that another case involved a local woman who works in an engineering consultancy company.
SDMC said the patient was admitted to SGH on July 7 after she complained of chest pain and dry cough.
The committee revealed that her early rapid test kit (RTK) antibody test on July 7 has shown positive results for Covid-19.
Additionally, SDMC said her laboratory results for PCR test for Covid-19 on July 9 were also positive.
SDMC said both cases were severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) which were possibly infected from local transmission as both did not have a history of travelling overseas.
The committee said the health department is conducting active case detection for both cases and their close contacts have been identified.
For the male patient, SDMC said the close contacts are his immediate family members.
As for the female patient, the committee noted that there were 30 close contacts who have been identified whilst they have been requested to undergo quarantine and the patient’s working place has been closed for disinfection.
SDMC said the source of the Covid-19 infection for both cases are still being investigated.
With two additional cases, the committee said the cumulative number of Covid-19 cases in Sarawak has increased to 575 cases.
It asserted that Kuching turned back to be a yellow zone from a green zone for Covid-19 due to the two new local cases.
On another note, SDMC said there were 43 new cases of person-under-investigation (PUI).
The committee said one patient has recovered and discharged from Sibu Hospital today while six patients are still receiving treatment at the isolation ward at health facilities.
Apart from that, SDMC said there were 73 persons-under-surveillance (PUS) who registered into hotels today to undergo their quarantine.
The committee added that there are currently 504 PUS who are undergoing their quarantine in 11 hotels throughout Sarawak while 18,227 PUS have completed their 14 days quarantine today. —DayakDaily
