By Nur Ashikin Louis
KUCHING, May 7: Two out of three new Covid-19 clusters identified in Pusa and Miri districts today were stemmed from religious activities which resulted in infections spread among family members and local communities.
Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC), in a statement today, said that the index case to a newly declared Beladin Cluster involved a 67-year-old local man who attended a religious activity conducted at a place of worship in a village in Pusa.
“The index case who is Case 31,697 tested positive for the virus through symptomatic screening at a health facility.
“Following investigations and active case detection (ACD) on close contacts and casual contacts to the index case, 45 more Covid-19 positive cases were discovered.
“A total of 435 individuals linked to this cluster have been screened, whereby 46 cases tested positive including the index case, 43 tested negative while 346 are still awaiting laboratory test results,” SDMC reported.
All 46 positive cases were referred and admitted to Betong Hospital and Quarantine and Low-Risk Treatment Centre (PKRC) Betong for isolation and further treatment.
The other new Jalan Limbang Cluster declared in Miri was identified to a 67-year-old local man (Case 31,820) who also contracted the disease from a place of worship and was detected through a symptomatic screening on April 30.
“Comprehensive surveillance activities had been carried out at the place of worship as there was close interaction among the committee members while an ACD operation among close contacts and social contacts was also conducted.
“A total of 108 individuals have been screened, whereby 18 were positive including the index case, two tested negative and 88 are still awaiting laboratory test results,” SDMC added.
Today, SDMC also announced the end of two clusters namely Gelong Cluster in Kapit and Jalan Gridbid in Miri after no new positive cases were reported within the last 28 days.
So far, there are 77 active clusters in Sarawak with 15 clusters recording an increase of 134 new positive cases.— DayakDaily
