By Karen Bong
KUCHING, Jan 29: For the first time since the outbreak of the Pasai Cluster, Song District has overtaken Sibu to top the list of daily Covid-19 infections with 47 cases while Sibu registers 33 new cases linking to the cluster today.
The notorious Pasai Cluster climbed back with three-digit infections at 101 new cases to raise the cluster toll to 1,805 as of today.
Sarawak recorded 179 new Covid-19 cases today and one fatality in Sibu.
State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas revealed that a total of 19,250 individuals from the Pasai Cluster have been screened whereby 16,289 were negative and 1,156 were still awaiting test results.
The Pasai Cluster which represented the first widespread community transmission of Covid-19 infections in Sarawak now not only adversely impacted Sibu District but extended its prowess to Song District and reached as far as Kapit District.
However, Sibu continued to top the list with the highest number of daily cases statewide at 65 today with 33 cases linked to the Pasai Cluster while 32 community cases were detected from screenings at various healthcare facilities in the district.
With Pasai Cluster and Sibu District continuing to see soaring Covid-19 cases, the Sibu Hospital and Quarantine and Low Risk Treatment Centre (PKRC) are currently filled up with a record 1,068 patients as of today.
Three patients in the Sibu Hospital are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) while another three patients are intubated but not in ICU wards.
As the Covid-19 cases from the Pasai Cluster had spread to other districts in Sarawak, Lundu and Selangau was third in the list, contributing seven cases each to the cluster. Â They are followed by Kapit with six cases and Kanowit one case.
The Pasai Cluster was started by an infected individual who had returned from Johore on Dec 29, 2020 to attend a funeral. She was later tested positive for Covid-19 and contact tracing resulted in mass screening in her longhouse as well as nearby longhouses.
By that time when double digit infections were detected, the disease had been brought back by guests attending the funeral to their respective longhouses across Sarawak, reaching as far as Belaga.
Due to the high infection rate of the Pasai Cluster, Movement Control Order (MCO) imposed in Sibu division have been extended until Feb 14 to stop the spread of infections. — DayakDaily
