KUCHING: Sarawak recorded two new Covid-19 positive cases today, with one of them having succumbed to the disease.
A statement from the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) revealed that the 576th case and the 18th death in the state involved a 72-year-old local man who had diabetes and high blood pressure.
He had a fever on July 7 and had received early treatment at Borneo Medical Centre (BMC) on July 9.
BMC then referred him to the Sarawak General Hospital (SGH).
He was tested using the reverse transcription – polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method and was found to be positive for Covid-19 on July 10.
His condition got worse and he passed away on the same day he tested positive due to multiple organ failure brought on by pneumonia caused by Covid-19.
SDMC has classified this as a locally transmitted case as the victim had no history of overseas travel.
The Sarawak Health Department is now actively conducting contact tracing, and the source of the infection is still being investigated.
The 557th case involved a local man who had returned from the United Kingdom.
He was administered the Rapid Test Kit (RTK) Antigen test upon arrival at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) on July 9 and returned a negative result.
Upon arrival in Kuching on the same day, he was immediately brought to a designated hotel for the mandatory 14-day quarantine.
He was tested on the second day, and was found to be positive with Covid-19, after which he was brought to SGH immediately for treatment.
Meanwhile, SDMC reported that seven active cases are currently being treated in hospitals around the state to date, where five are at the SGH, one at Sibu Hospital and one Bintulu Hospital.
SDMC also recorded 13 new persons-under-investigation (PUI) cases where two are still awaiting their lab test results.
At the same time, the committee also recorded 60 new persons-under-surveillance (PUS) cases, making it a total of 474 to date being quarantined in 11 hotels across the state.
There are currently 263 cases in Kuching, 106 in Miri 106, 20 in Bintulu, 40 in Limbang and 45 in Sibu.
SDMC can be reached via the phone numbers 082-443991, 082-513340, 082-649813, 082-536512 and 082-646634.
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