Bernama file photo for illustration purposes.
KUCHING: Sarawak recorded two new Covid-19 positive cases in Lawas today, bringing the cumulative tally of Covid-19 cases to 706, said Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC).
SDMC said both cases involved local men, who served as frontliners at the Sarawak-Sabah border post in Merapok, Lawas.
“They were screened on Sept 20 due to being suspected of coming into contact with a Covid-19 positive case while discharging their duties at the mentioned border post.
“Their screening samples were sent to the Kota Kinabalu Public Health Laboratory in Sabah and the rT-PCR test on Sept 26 found their screening samples to be tested positive for Covid-19,” said SDMC in its daily update press statement today.
SDMC said one of these cases showed symptoms and signs for Covid-19 infection on Sept 7, adding that the other case did not display any symptoms and signs.
It said both cases had been referred to the Miri Hospital for immediate medical attention.
“Preliminary investigations indicated that both the cases did not have history of travelling abroad or visiting any red zones in Sabah.
“The cause of infections is still being looked into and the results of the preliminary investigations led to the possibility of the two cases being infected while discharging their frontline duties at the border post,” added SDMC.
SDMC said the preliminary investigations also found that the two cases did not have connections with each other, apart from serving at the same spot.
As such, SDMC said the investigations were ongoing to determine whether there would be a new Covid-19 cluster.
“Contact tracing for the two cases including their family members, co-workers and social contacts is being proactively carried out,” it said.
SDMC said no new recovered and discharged case was recorded today, maintaining the cumulative number of recovered and discharged cases at 681 or 96.46 per cent of the total.
However, six cases were still being treated at hospitals, said SDMC, adding that three of which were at Miri Hospital and one each at Sarawak General Hospital, Bintulu Hospital and Sungai Buloh Hospital in Selangor.
“No Covid-19 case is receiving treatment at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Kindly be informed that the one case reported in Sandakan, Sabah is being treated at Bintulu Hospital.”
SDMC said the cumulative death cases remained at 19 or 2.69 per cent of the total, adding that two persons-under-investigation (PUI) were reported.
It added that the police had issued four compound notices to individuals, three in Kuching and one in Kota Samarahan, who flouted the standard operating procedures (SOP).