Frontliners going door to door at Taman Univista in Samarahan.
KUCHING (Feb 16): Sarawak recorded one Covid-19 death today along with 193 new positive cases, said the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC).
It said the latest fatality was recorded in Sibu and that the state’s death toll from the virus has now increased to 62.
“As for the new positive cases, Sibu recorded the highest with 105 followed by Samarahan (19), Kuching (17), Kapit (17), Bintulu (12), Beluru (7), Julau (6), Song (3), Dalat (3), Miri (2) and Bau (2).
“The total number of positive cases in the state have now increased 7,025,” it said in a statement.
The committee said that the 62nd death case involved an 83-year-old Sarawakian woman who was admitted to Sibu Hospital after having symptoms of fever and had trouble breathing.
“The victim, who hailed from Nanga Banjor in Song district, was tested for Covid-19 using the RT-PCR test and she was found to be positive on Jan 25.
“Her health condition deteriorated and she was pronounced dead on Feb 15,” it said, noting that the victim also had a history of comorbidity such as high blood pressure and diabetes.
It added that this case was from the Pasai Cluster.
On the new positive cases recorded today, SDMC said Sibu’s cases were mostly from individuals who were screened through active case detection (ACD) of contacts to Covid-19 positive case.
“A total of 76 individuals were detected as positive from this screening while 24 others were detected after being screened at health centres in Sibu district,” it said.
It said two cases were linked to the Geronggang Cluster while another two cases were detected from screenings of health workers at a health facility in Sibu.
“One case involved a Sarawakian who had returned from a high-risk Covid-19 infection area.
“This case is categorised as an Import B as the individual was infected in Kelantan,” it said.
It pointed out that the 19 cases recorded in Samarahan were linked to the Univista Cluster while in Kuching, ten cases involved the Kampung Sungai Maong Cluster.
“Kuching also recorded six Import B cases, all of which involved Sarawakians who had returned from high-risk Covid-19 infections areas namely Selangor (3), Kuala Lumpur (1), Johor (1) and Labuan (1).
“The district also registered a new positive case from an individual who went for screening at a health centre in Kuching,” it said.
In Kapit, the committee said 12 cases were linked to the Gelong Cluster while another four were detected from screening of health workers at a health facility in the district.
“There was also a case involving an individual who was screened at a health clinic in Kapit,” it added.
It said Bintulu’s 12 cases consisted of seven individuals who were detected through ACD of contacts to Covid-19 positive case and five individuals involving the Kidurong Dua Cluster.
“In Beluru, six cases involved the Pasai Cluster while one was linked to the Seruas Cluster.
“Also registering cases linked to cluster was Julau with four cases involving the Nanga Lijan Cluster,” said the committee.
It added that Julau also recorded two cases detected from individuals who were found positive through ACD of contacts to Covid-19 positive case.
Song recorded three cases in the district of which two were linked to the Pasai Cluster and one who was detected through ACD of contacts to Covid-19 positive case.
“Dalat also recorded a positive case linked to the Pasai Cluster while its other two cases were from ACD,” SDMC said.
It said Miri’s two cases were detected from screening of health workers while Bau’s two cases were found positive after ACD of contacts to Covid-19 positive case.
Meanwhile, SDMC said 139 Covid-19 patients had recovered today of which 60 were discharged from Sibu Hospital, 29 from Sarawak General Hospital (SGH), 19 from quarantine and low-risk patients treatment centres (PKRC) under Kapit Hospital, 16 from Bintulu Hospital, 11 from Miri Hospital and four from Sarikei Hospital.
“The total number of recoveries in the state have now increased to 5,093 or 72.5 per cent out of the overall cases,” it said.
It also said 1,842 patients are still being treated at hospitals throughout the state, where 955 are being treated at Sibu Hospital, followed by 359 at Miri Hospital, 162 at PKRC Kapit under Kapit Hospital, 145 at SGH, 137 at Bintulu Hospital, 78 at Sarikei Hospital, two at Limbang Hospital, two at Saratok Hospital, one at Sri Aman Hospital and one at PKRC Lawas.
A total of 238 new persons-underinvestigation (PUI) cases were also reported today with five PUI pending lab test results.