KUCHING: The Sarawak Health Department is tracing close contacts of the recent positive Covid-19 case from Bintulu, including passengers on a Bintang Jaya Express Bus which had travelled from Kuching to Bintulu on March 14.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said this case, which had been revealed yesterday, had visited her relatives in Kota Samarahan before returning to Bintulu.
He said that after she returned to Bintulu, it was discovered that the person she visited in Kota Samarahan had tested positive for Covid-19.
“Under those circumstances, contact tracing was done and that led the Health Department to her,” he said at the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) Covid-19 daily update press conference yesterday.
He said the patient must have travelled from Kota Samarahan to Bintulu, and that was why authorities were seeking out the bus passengers.
“Some of her relatives have also visited her, and they are also taking these individuals as persons-under-surveillance (PUS),” he said.
He said that the patient had not shown any symptoms until she was found to be Covid-19 positive, and up until then, her relatives had been visiting her at her home.
He emphasised that this was why authorities were very strict with preventing inter-district travel, especially from red to green zones, and urged the public to cooperate with authorities enforcing this restriction.
Meanwhile, Uggah said that the Ministry of Higher Education had tasked Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) to be in charge of managing the transportation of students studying at public and private institutions of higher learning in Sarawak back to their hometowns, which will start today or tomorrow.
According to him, this included those studying at Unimas, Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Sarawak, and other universities statewide.
“In West Malaysia, the buses are travelling at night while in Sarawak, due to the conditions of our roads, they will travel during the day.
“We were informed that the buses will transport them to various locations and districts, and from there, they will return to their respective hometowns,” he said.
