State Health Dept to conduct thorough check on second outbreak at Sentosa Hospital

Sentosa Hospital is currently under lockdown for 14 days due to a Covid-19 outbreak detected in the hospital. Photo source: Google Maps

KUCHING, July 15: The State Health Department will conduct a thorough investigation on the second outbreak of Covid-19 at Sentosa Hospital.

State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) advisor Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian said the outbreak, which involved hospital staff, should be probed as they were among the earliest batch to be vaccinated with two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine in Phase One of the Sarawak Immunisation Programme.

“I have asked Jabatan Kesihatan Negeri Sarawak (JKNS) to investigate (the outbreak) thoroughly. How many of the infected are vaccinated staff or in-patients, what type of vaccines were used and how long ago were they vaccinated.

“Also, to work closely with Unimas genomics studies. Unlike PCR results which come on the same day, genomics study takes about 1.5 to 2 weeks’ time for results to come out” he said in a Facebook post last night.

Dr Sim, who is also Minister for Local Government and Housing, added that the hospital is currently under a 14-day lockdown.

SDMC yesterday reported that there were 52 healthcare workers and residents in Sentosa Hospital who were infected with Covid-19.

It was the second outbreak in the hospital after the first outbreak occurred in July 2020.

On another note, it was reported that there were no Delta variants detected in the latest outbreak from Sentosa Hospital. — DayakDaily