File photo for illustration purposes
KUCHING: Sarawak recorded six new positive Covid-19 cases in Kuching district today, bringing the total number of positive cases in the state to 607, said the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC).
It said in a statement that case 602 involved a local female healthcare worker in Kuching who started showing mild signs and symptoms from July 13.
“The case went to test herself for Covid-19 as she wanted to travel to Penang. After undergoing the rT-PCR Covid-19 test at Borneo Medical Centre, she tested positive for the disease on July 18.
“Contact tracing of the case is underway and investigation is ongoing,” it said.
The committee pointed out that two of the new positive cases were detected after being screened due to being close contacts of previous Covid-19 positive cases.
“Case 603 is an Indonesian man working in the same fishing company at case 584 who tested positive on July 15.
“The case was screened on July 18 at Tanah Puteh Health Clinic and tested positive on the same day,” it said, adding that the patient was admitted to the Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) for further treatment that very day.
The other case, it said, was a local who had close contact with Case 589 who was detected on July 17.
“Case 605 is the younger sibling of Case 589 and did not show any sign or symptoms,” it added.
SDMC said random screening was carried out on teachers returning to work in Sarawak where a positive case was detected.
“Case 604, who hails from Kedah, returned to Sarawak on July 1 and was asked to quarantine himself at home until July 17.
“He did not show any sign or symptom and underwent random screening instructed by the Civil Defence Force (APM) on July 17.”
The committee also said random screening on visitors at Kuching International Airport (KIA) International Entry Point (PMA) detected two positive cases.
“Case 606 is a local man who was screened randomly upon his arrival from Peninsular Malaysia. He was screened on July 17 at Petra Jaya Health Clinic and found to be positive on the same day.
“The case was asymptomatic and has been admitted to SGH for further treatment,” it said, adding that contact tracing of the case is underway and investigation is ongoing.
For Case 607, SDMC said it involved a local woman residing in Kedah who was instructed to undergo random screening by APM on July 17.
“She was returning from Kedah on July 8 via Penang International Airport to KIA.
“The case came to Sarawak to visit family members in Kuching.”
It added that the patient is asymptomatic and contact tracing and investigation on the case is underway.
On the number of person under investigation (PUI), SDMC said 19 new cases were recorded today while five cases were still pending lab test results.
“Currently, 35 cases are still being treated at hospitals throughout the state,” it said, adding that there are no recovered Covid-19 patients today.
The number of recoveries remain at 554 or 91.27 per cent out of the overall cases.
Since the first positive Covid-19 case was reported on March 13, the state has recorded a total of 18 deaths.