[SARAWAK] Covid-19: Drop in daily cases with 60 new positives recorded in Sarawa

FanTasyCreaTioN

15/01/2021

Alhamdulillah ...

KUCHING (Jan 15): Sarawak recorded double-digit Covid-19 cases today with 60 cases after four days of triple-digit figures, a majority of which were registered in Sibu, said the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC).

Sibu recorded 43 cases, followed by Miri with 10, five in Kuching and two in Kanowit, said SDMC chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas at a press conference on the daily Covid-19 situation in the state at the old Legislative Assembly Building today.

“The 41 out of 60 cases in the state today are the close contacts from the Pasai Cluster in Sibu. The other two cases in Sibu were detected from individual Covid-19 screenings at private health facilities,” he said.

In Miri, five cases are from individual Covid-19 screenings at private health facilities who have shown symptoms, three are from close contact screenings related to the Pasai Cluster in Sibu and one is a close contact screening related to the Jelita Cluster in Miri, and one is a Sabahan who came from Sabah to Miri for work.

In Kuching, two cases are from active contact tracing related to the Pasai Cluster in Sibu, one is screened in relation to the Stutong Cluster in Kuching and two were detected from individual Covid-19 screenings at private health facilities who have shown symptoms.

In Kanowit, two cases were detected through contact screening related to the Pasai Cluster in Sibu, with the district now classified as a yellow zone as both cases are local transmissions.

Meanwhile, seven clusters are still active in the state with the Pasai Cluster in Sibu remaining the largest, with the number of positive cases involving this cluster now reaching 510 cases.

The other active clusters are the Bah Sayap Cluster in Miri with 89 cases; Stutong Cluster in Kuching (37); Bukit Sekubong Cluster in Sebauh (24); Jelita Cluster in Miri (23); Keranji Tabuan Cluster in Kuching (14); and Mador Cluster in Meradong (8).

Similarly, six Covid-19 patients have recovered today — of which three were discharged from Sarawak General Hospital (SGH), two from Miri Hospital and one from Sibu Hospital.

This brings the total number of recoveries in the state to 1,137 or 57.42 per cent out of the overall cases.

“There are 822 patients who are still being treated and isolated, of which 494 receiving treatment at Sibu Hospital, 193 at Miri Hospital, 100 at SGH and 35 at Bintulu Hospital. Two patients are being treated at the Intensive Care Unit of Miri Hospital. They are in stable condition,” he said.

There are no new deaths reported and the state’s death toll remains unchanged at 19.

On the number of persons-under-investigation (PUI), 141 new cases were reported with 43 awaiting test results.

FanTasyCreaTioN

Covid-19: Sarawak to continue testing all close contacts, including those without symptoms

KUCHING: Sarawak will continue to test all close contacts of Covid-19 cases, including those who do not exhibit any symptoms, says Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah.

The Deputy Chief Minister said the state disaster management committee would continue with its practice of aggressive contact tracing and testing although the Health Ministry has a new directive to only test those showing symptoms.

"We have discussed this with the state Health Department. When we trace the contacts, we will test them, whether they have symptoms or not," he said at the committee's briefing here on Friday (Jan 15).

It was reported on Thursday (Jan 14) that due to the strain on the healthcare system, the Health Ministry would no longer test every individual identified as a close contact of a positive case.

Malaysiakini reported that according to a new circular it had sighted, all close contacts must be identified and ordered to isolate at home but Covid-19 screening would only be done on symptomatic individuals.

Uggah said Sarawak's testing capacity had been boosted with the involvement of private labs.

"Our objective is to make sure that the results can come out within 24 hours. At the moment, some still extend to 36 hours.

"We hope that with the assistance from the private sector and increase in the Health Department's capacity, we can conduct more tests daily," he said.

Uggah also said the committee would decide on Saturday (Jan 16) whether to tighten the standard operating procedures (SOP) in certain areas in Sarawak. This comes although the state reported a drop in daily cases with 60 on Friday after four consecutive days of triple-digit figures.

"The situation had worsened within the last one week. A lot of it was due to the inability to maintain the SOP and many people were complacent.

"We should take this as a lesson. A few weeks ago, we were the role model state but now we have red, orange, yellow and green zones.

"That is not a good sign. If tougher action needs to be taken, we will not hesitate to take it," Uggah said.