KUCHING, Jan 1: Three new local Covid-19 cases involving a telecommunication worker, an insurance agent, and a sales executive were reported in Kuching out of eight cases in Sarawak today.
Meradong district detected three more cases linked to the previous case (Case 1,115), thus changing its status to yellow zone; while Bintulu also detected one locally transmitted case and Miri one imported case.
The State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC), in a statement today, said that this increased the state tally of positive cases to 1,125.
With eight local cases reported at the start of the new year, SDMC urged people to remain vigilant despite the holiday season and always observe all standard operating procedures (SOP) which had been issued to break the Covid-19 infection chain.
Case 1,118 involved a local man who worked in the telecommunication sector and had undergone Covid-19 screening at a private hospital after a bout of fever and cough since Dec 29.
After falling sick, he had been resting at home before seeking treatment at a private clinic on Dec 31 followed by further checking and Covid-19 screening at a hospital.
Case 1,119 was a local woman who worked as an insurance agent was the close family contact of Case 1,118. She also went for screening after experiencing a cough on Dec 31.
Case 1,120, a sales executive who was also the close contact of Case 1,118, had gone for a drive-thru screening at a private hospital after experiencing fever and cough on Dec 31.
All of the cases were now isolated and treated at Sarawak General Hospital (SGH). Investigation and contact tracing for all contacts are currently underway.
For Meradong district, all three cases – Case 1,121, Case 1,122, and Case 1,123 were family members of Case 1,115 and detected following close contact screenings on Dec 30 at Sibu Hospital.
They had been ordered to undergo home quarantine after returning from Kuala Lumpur on Dec 19. Active case detection was immediately conducted after Case 1,115 was tested positive on Dec 29.
One of them had experienced the loss of smell on Dec 28 while the other had a cough on Dec 31 and one was asymptomatic.
All cases were now isolated and treated at Sibu Hospital. Investigation and close contact tracing were still ongoing.
In Bintulu, Case 1,124 involved a Chinese man from China who worked in a steel factory in Samalaju since 2017 and had returned to China in March 2019.
He had undergone screening at a private hospital on Dec 31 as part of the procedure to return to China. The case together with 14 other colleagues had been screened after he tested positive on Dec 31.
The man had complained about feeling fluish on Dec 22 but did not go for treatment.
When Bintulu Health Office learned that the case was tested positive, the case together with 14 colleagues was already at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur.
Further investigation revealed that they had used the company’s vehicle to get to the Miri Airport before boarding a plane to Kuala Lumpur.
As such, the case had been referred to the Selangor Health Office for further action and currently, he was isolated and treated at Sungai Buloh Hospital.
Active contact tracing for the case is being carried out by the Bintulu Health Office.
As for the import case in Miri, Case 1,125 involved a civil servant from Selangor who was based in Miri and he had entered Sarawak on Dec 27 after a holiday at his hometown since Dec 13.
The case was ordered to undergo home quarantine upon arrival and undergo a swab test on Dec 29. He experienced fever on Dec 20 and the result returned positive thereafter.
The case was currently warded at Miri Hospital. Further investigation and contact tracing is being carried out.
Meanwhile, no recoveries were recorded today, thus the total number of recovered cases in Sarawak was maintained at 1,069 or 95.02 per cent of total positive cases so far.
With additional eight cases, a total of 35 patients were still receiving treatment in hospitals with 14 in SGH, eight in Miri Hospital, seven in Sibu Hospital, five in Bintulu Hospital and one in Sungai Buloh Hospital.
Kuching, Sibu, Bintulu and Lawas remained as yellow zones with a total of eight local cases reported in the past 14 days.
There were nine more persons-under-investigation (PUI) reported with no cases pending laboratory test results.
SDMC updated that 468 more persons-under-surveillance (PUS) have registered into identified hotels to undergo quarantine.
As of today, there were a total number of 3,202 individuals undergoing quarantine in 43 hotels and quarantine facilities throughout the state. — DayakDaily
