A medical personnel conducts a swab test on a person during mass testing in this Bernama File Photo
KUCHING (Mar 9): Sarawak recorded one new Covid-19 death case today as well as 163 new positive cases, said the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC).
It said in a statement that the death toll in the state now stands at 89 following this latest fatality, which involved an 83-year-old Sarawakian woman who was taken to Mukah Hospital after being found unconscious at home.
“The victim was confirmed dead on March 2. The RT-PCR test conducted on March 3 found her to be positive of Covid-19,” it said, noting that the victim also had a history of comorbidity namely hypertension and dyslipidaemia.
It added that the victim was also a contact to the Buloh Cluster in Selangau and that this case has been classified as Brought in Dead (BID).
Of the new positive cases, the committee said Betong recorded the highest number of cases this time around with 37 followed by Miri (25), Bintulu (23), Sibu (17), Subis (15), Kuching (12), Julau (9), Asajaya (6), Kapit (6), Sarikei (4), Pusa (3) and Samarahan (2).
“Bau, Kanowit, Tatau and Dalat districts each also recorded one new case.
“The total number of positive cases in the state have now increased to 11,511 cases,” it said.
On the new positive cases, SDMC said only 17 individuals (10.43 per cent) out of 163 cases had showed signs of Covid-19 infection when screenings were conducted.
“The cases reported today consist of 40 cases which were detected from existing active clusters; 92 cases from screenings of individuals with contact to positive Covid-19 cases; 11 cases from symptomatic individual screenings at health facilities; 19 cases from other screenings at health facilities; and one imported case involving an individual who had returned from the United States,” it said.
The committee also pointed out that 210 Covid-19 patients had recovered today of which 69 were discharged from Sibu Hospital; 66 from the quarantine and low-risk patients treatment centre (PKRC) in Betong; 30 from Bintulu Hospital; 16 from Sarawak General Hospital (SGH), 11 from Sarikei Hospital, eight from PKRC under Kapit Hospital; seven from Miri Hospital; and three from PKRC Sri Aman.
“The total number of recoveries in the state have now increased to 8,987 or 78.07 per cent out of the overall cases,” it said.
It also said that 2,397 patients were still being isolated and treated at hospitals and PKRCs throughout the state, where 935 are being treated at Sibu Hospital and PKRC Sibu; 361 at Miri Hospital and PKRC Miri; 321 at Bintulu Hospital and PKRC Bintulu; 290 at SGH and PKRC Kuching; 186 at Betong Hospital and PKRC Betong; 144 at Kapit Hospital and PKRC Kapit; 134 at Sarikei Hospital and PKRC Sarikei; 18 at Sri Aman Hospital and PKRC Sri Aman; seven at PKRC Mukah; and one at PKRC Serian.
A total of 171 new person under investigation (PUI) cases were also reported with two pending lab test results.
Meanwhile, SDMC said as of March 8, a total of 24,030 individuals in Sarawak have been given the first dose of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine since the immunisation programme in the state was rolled out on Feb 26.