A total of 17 cases (including the index case) have been traced to the Kampung Semeba Cluster, said SDMC. – Bernama photo
KUCHING (Feb 9): A new Covid-19 community cluster believed to be linked to a Chinese New Year celebration has been detected in Sarawak as the number of new cases rose to 184 today.
The State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) in its daily Covid-19 update said the cluster involved a private residence at Kampung Semeba here.
“A total of 17 cases (including the index case) have been traced to the Kampung Semeba Cluster.
“The index case, who returned to Kuching from Kuala Lumpur on Jan 31, was detected through screening of symptomatic individuals at health facilities on Feb 5.
“Infections were believed to have originated from social interactions and history dining together during Chinese New Year celebration on Feb 1, 2022.
A total 139 individuals linked to the cluster were screened, and 122 have been tested negative for Covid-19.
The positive cases have been sent to the Sarawak General Hospital’s (SGH) quarantine and low-risk patients treatment centre (PKRC) and the Covid Assessment Centre (CAC) for treatment and isolation.
This is the first Covid-19 cluster to be detected in Sarawak after the last two active clusters – the Jalan Sultan Tengah Rampangi Cluster and Jalan Ong Tiang Swee Cluster – ended on Dec 2 last year.
On cases breakdown according to districts, Kuching reported 79 cases followed by Miri with 39 cases, Sibu (28), Lundu (10), Bintulu (8), Kapit (6), Limbang (4), Sarikei (2), Samarahan (2), and one each in Serian, Song, Meradong, Belaga, Lawas and Kanowit.
There was one case each of Category 3 (patient with pneumonia but not requiring oxygen support), Category 4 (patient with pneumonia requiring oxygen support), and Category 5 (patient with pneumonia requiring ventilator support).
The remaining 181 cases were either asymptomatic (101) or had mild symptoms (80).
The cumulative number of cases in Sarawak now stands at 253,400 while the death toll remains at 1,622.