By Adrian Lim
KUCHING, April 17: A 28-year-old teacher from a religious primary school located in Jalan Disa in Sibu has been infected with Covid-19 that gave rise to a new cluster of Covid-19 known as the Jalan Disa Cluster.
At the same time, there was a secondary school student, aged 16 years, in Selangau who was infected with Covid-19 that gave rise to the Ulu Balingian Cluster in the Selangau district.
According to reports from the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC), there were three new clusters of Covid-19 identified by the State Health Department today.
They are namely the Jalan Disa Cluster, Jalan Ding Lik Kwong Cluster both in Sibu and the Ulu Balingian Cluster in Selangau.
For the Jalan Disa Cluster, SDMC said the index case was a 28-year-old woman who was identified through symptomatic screening at the Lanang Health Clinic on April 13 and tested positive for Covid-19 on April 14.
The committee said the index case is a teacher at the primary school and developed symptoms of Covid-19 on April 9 while she also travelled to Kabong and Betong districts from March 31 to April 4 during the school holidays.
Following active case detection and contact tracing to family members and co-workers of the index case, 19 new cases were identified.
At present, a total of 199 individuals linked to the index case have been screened for Covid-19 with 20 tested positive including the index case.
The balance of 179 individuals were tested negative during the first swab test.
For the Ulu Balingian Cluster in Selangau, SDMC said it involved a secondary school and a residence in Ulu Balingian.
The committee said the index case, 23,111 is a student of a secondary school who was identified through symptomatic screening at the Selangau Health Clinic and tested positive on April 16.
Subsequently, active case detection and contact tracing were carried out and a further 100 new cases were identified.
Out of the 100 new cases, 99 of them were students while two were close contacts.
In the meantime, all the positive cases have been referred to Sibu Hospital and being admitted to low risk quarantine centres in Sibu and Selangau for treatment.
As for the Jalan Ding Lik Kwong Cluster, it involved a 28-year-old woman who works as an administrative assistant in a timber company in Teku, Sibu.
SDMC said the woman experienced symptoms of Covid-19 on April 9 and travelled to Sarikei district from April 1 to 4.
Following investigation, 10 more Covid-19 cases were identified.
At the moment, a total of 43 individuals linked to the cluster have been screened for Covid-19 with 16 individuals tested positive and 27 individuals tested negative on the first swab test.
With three new Covid-19 clusters identified today, there are a total of 49 active clusters throughout the state.
Out of the 49 active clusters, 11 clusters reported 169 new cases while the balance of 38 clusters did not report any new cases of coronavirus. — DayakDaily
