File photo for illustration purposes
KUCHING: Sarawak recorded nine new positive Covid-19 cases today, bringing the total number of positive cases in the state to 641.
Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said six of those cases were detected in Kuching district, while the remaining three were detected in Samarahan district.
He said during the daily Covid-19 update today that eight of those cases were detected following contact tracing from the Sentosa Cluster, while one case involved a female student who had just come back from Perth, Australia on July 22.
Uggah, who is also Deputy Chief Minister, said Kuching still remained a Covid-19 yellow zone because the number of locally transmitted cases is still below 41 cases within the last 14 days.
“Kuching is not declared red zone yet because from the data that we have, the local transmitted cases is 38 while the others are imported cases.
“We hope that Kuching will remain yellow. We succeeded in the first phase due to cooperation by everyone of us. Now we are faced with spike in cases, therefore the government appeals to everyone to comply with the SOP (standard operating procedure) and keep social distancting.
“And I advise those in Kuching to also please avoid going to the green zone areas at this moment,” he said.
He also said that due to spike in cases, the inter-district movement between Kuching and Samarahan divisions are now discouraged except for those on official duty, working in essential services and to deal with matters related to a death of close family members or a sick relative or to seek medical attention.
Regarding the case involving a female student who had just come back from Perth, Australia, Uggah said the case was tested positive following rT_PCR test during compulsory quarantine at a hotel here on July 23.
“She had been in Australia since February. On arrival in Kuala Lumpur (when on transit from Perth before coming to Kuching), the RTK Antigen test was not carried out on her because she already underwent Covid-19 screening in Perth, Australia on July 17 and was tested negative.
“On arrival in Kuching, she was immediately brought to the quarantine centre which was a hotel and underwent screening on July 21 and tested positive on July 23. She did now show any symptoms,” said Uggah.
For the new cases from the Sentosa Cluster, Uggah revealed all of them are health workers at the affected medical facility who were screened on July 22.
“They comprise five men and three women aged between 30 to 48-years-old. All of them did not show any symptoms,” said Uggah.
Uggah also informed that no new recoveries and cases were discharged from hospitals today. This means the total number of recoveries and cases discharged remains at 556 persons, or 86.74 percent of total cases.
A total of 67 persons are still being warded at the isolation wards in the hospitals, and none of them are in the intensive care unit and in need of intubation.
A total 18 persons-under-investigation (PUI) were also recorded today, with five cases still awaiting laboratory test results while the others tested negative.
Covid-19 has so far claimed the lives of 18 persons in Sarawak, or 2.81 percent of accumulated cases.