KUCHING: Sarawak recorded one new death due to Covid-19 today, bringing the death toll to 16.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said the deceased is a 72-year-old woman from Lingga, Sri Aman, who had a history of high blood pressure and a growth in her stomach.
“She complained of gastric pain and shortness of breath and was admitted to the Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) on April 20. Her test results returned positive for Covid-19 on April 22, when she died at 9.15am.
“She has no history of any contact with other positive cases, but the Health Department is still investigating the source of her infection,” Uggah told a press conference after chairing the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) today.
Uggah also said as of today, Sarawak recorded 19 new positive cases of Covid-19, which are all treated at the SGH, bringing the cumulative number of cases to 455.
He also said the number of persons under investigation (PUI) today was 155, adding that 136 people were still waiting for results of their tests.
Also, Uggah said today 17 people have recovered and were subsequently discharged, bringing the total number of recovered patients in Sarawak to 105.
“There are 15 recovered cases from SGH, one from Sibu Hospital and one from Miri Hospital,” he said.
Meanwhile, Uggah said a SDMC special taskforce has managed to contact 207 people out of some 2,500 who are suspected of having close or casual contact with positive cases in Kuching.
He said 82 of them had agreed to go for screening at the Unimas City Centre facility, and 11 have made appointments to be screened at the Youth and Sports Complex here.
“In other words, the task force has been successful and it will continue to track down the other suspected close and casual contacts in days to come,” said Uggah.