Dr Chin Zin Hing
KUCHING (Jan26): The state Health Department has urged Sarawakians who are ill after visiting Covid-19 high risk areas in the state in the last two weeks to go for screening at any health clinic or private hospitals urgently.
Its director, Dr Chin Zin Hing, said his department was concerned about people who had travelled to areas like Sri Aman, Betong, Sibu, Kanowit, Dalat, Miri, Beluru and Sebauh in the last two weeks to visit family or friends, or attended weddings and funerals.
“If they are ill and having symptoms like coughing, fever, sore throat, loss of taste and smell and physical fatigue and, had travelled to these high risk areas in the last two weeks, they are required to go for screening immediately,” he said in a statement.
This also applies to those who are ill and having symptoms and had been visited by family members and friends who had been at the high risk areas the last two weeks, he added.
“This is because there are many Covid-19 positive cases detected at the longhouses and homes in these high risk areas,” he said.
The number of Covid-19 red zones in Sarawak increased yesterday to six after Bintulu recorded 46 local infections in the last 14 days.
The Health Ministry has categorised areas with no cases as green zones and over a 14-day period, those with one to 20 cases as yellow, 21 to 40 as orange and more than 40 as red zones.
The other red zones in Sarawak are Kanowit, Beluru, Miri, Sibu and Kuching. The epicentre of the state’s largest Covid cluster as of yesterday is in Sibu with the Pasai Cluster, which has 1,474 positive cases.
The total number of Covid cases in Sarawak climbed to 3,499 yesterday with 30 deaths.