By Adrian Lim
KUCHING, July 20: Sarawak recorded one imported Covid-19 case in Kuching today.
State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said with the additional case, the number of cumulative Covid-19 cases in Sarawak has increased to 608.
“The 608th case is a Sarawakian who works in Manila, the Philippines. The patient had been in the Philippines since December 2019.
“The patient returned from Manila on July 17 and transited at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) before entering Sarawak through Kuching International Airport (KIA) on the same day,” he said during a press conference to provide updates on the Covid-19 situation in Sarawak today.
Uggah noted the patient was asymptomatic and was brought to a quarantine centre upon arrival in Kuching.
He said the patient had undergone a Covid-19 swab test in the Philippines on July 15 and the results were negative.
Uggah added the patient underwent another Covid-19 swab test on July 18, the second day of arrival, and the results of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test returned positive.
Thus, he said the patient was admitted to Sarawak General Hospital (SGH).
Uggah who is also the Deputy Chief Minister said contact tracing and investigation for the case is still being carried out.
He revealed there are 35 Covid-19 patients who are being treated in isolation wards in hospitals across the state while no patients were reported recovered and discharged today.
Uggah added that there were 20 new Person-Under-Investigation (PUI) cases reported today while 10 PUI cases were awaiting laboratory test results.
There were 81 persons who returned to Sarawak today and checked into hotels as Persons-Under-Surveillance (PUS).
There are 482 PUS undergoing quarantine at nine hotels throughout Sarawak. A total of 18,933 PUS have completed their quarantine so far. — DayakDaily
