KUCHING: About 195 out of the 2,500 people in Kuching, who have had close or casual contact with Covid-19 positive cases, have been screened so far.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said another 302 had also agreed to come forward to be screened at the Youth and Sports Complex.
“This is about 20 percent of those on the list that have been tracked by the special task force,” he said at the daily Covid-19 press conference yesterday.
Uggah, who is also the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman, said there were 41 in the list who are not from Sarawak.
“They are from outside the state, so with that, we did not contact them,” he said.
The special task force formed recently by the Sarawak government and headed by former State Health director Dr Jamilah Hashim is to track these identified contacts in order to curb the spread of Covid-19.
In the meantime, Uggah said so far 94 students had returned to the state from the United States, United Kingdom, Indonesia and Singapore.
“Of these, three in Miri tested positive, while six out of nine returning from Indonesia tested positive,” he said.
He said the Sarawak government was very strict in ensuring that there was adequate space for those coming back to the state for quarantine.
“We are very stringent, as I have said few days ago… if those returning from overseas have undergone quarantine in Kuala Lumpur, we still want them to have the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) swab test when they return to the state.
“If we miss one and he or she is on the loose in society, this will have a devastating effect,” Uggah said.
