KUCHING (Aug 7): Sarawak recorded one new imported Covid-19 case in Kuching today, bringing an end to the six consecutive days of zero cases in the state.
The Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) secretariat stated that the new case brings the total cumulative tally of positive cases in the state to 679.
“The new case reported today involved a local man who was studying in Dar Al-Mustafa, Yemen. The patient returned from Cairo, Egypt to Kuala Lumpur on Aug 1 using Egypt Air airline,” said the statement.
The secretariat said that he had transited at Kuala Lumpur International Airport and entered Sarawak on Aug 2.
He was instructed to undergo a two-week quarantine at a hotel upon arrival. The patient did not show any symptoms associated with the Covid-19 virus.
“The patient was tested for Covid-19 via an antigen rapid test kit (RTK) on Aug 2 in Kuala Lumpur and the result came back negative for the virus,” said the statement.
It added a reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rT-PCR) swab test was conducted on the patient on Aug 3 and laboratory results from National Public Health Laboratory in Sungai Buloh came back positive for the virus on Aug 6.
“The patient was admitted on Aug 6 and contact tracing and investigation are currently ongoing. It has been classified as an imported case,” the statement read.
The secretariat added that there were currently still 10 active clusters of Covid-19 in the state, Engineering Company Cluster which still has eight cases, Mambong Cluster (7), Medical Centre Cluster (3), Jupiter Cluster (3), Stutong Market Cluster (7), Kuching Jetty Cluster (2), Sentosa Cluster (31), Melbourne PUI Cluster (3), Kuching Construction Company Cluster (2) and Satok Market Cluster (4).
“Five patients of Covid-19 have recovered from the disease and have discharged from the Sarawak General Hospital (SGH), bringing the total number of patients discharged to 626 people or 92.16 per cent of all cases.”
It added 34 patients were still receiving treatment at SGH’s isolation ward and the death toll of the virus remained at 19, or 2.8 per cent of the total cases. No patients are currently undergoing intubation.
“Seven new persons-under-investigation (PUI) were also reported and there are currently zero cases pending laboratory results,” said the secretariat.
A total of 146 persons-under-surveillance (PUS) had also registered to be quarantined in hotels, bringing the total number of individuals currently being quarantined in 17 hotels statewide to 1,394.
The secretariat also revealed that 1,480 vehicles were inspected at roadblocks set up at Simunjan and Sri Aman districts today and only five drivers were instructed to turn back for not having the required permission for travelling between zones.
“The police have also issued 15 compound notices for failure in observing standard operating procedures issued, comprising nine compounds issued in Padawan, two each in Kuching and Kota Samarahan and one each in Betong and Miri,” it said, adding a arrest was made at a furniture shop in Pusa, Betong.
Six roadblocks were set up in five districts as part of ‘Op Benteng’ operation, consisting of two in Lundu and one each in Bau, Serian, Sri Aman and Lubok Antu while 1,002 vehicles were inspected today.