KUCHING: A new Covid-19 cluster has been detected in Sarawak and it is called Alam Cluster.
According to the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC), four positive cases were detected on Thursday (Aug 20) as a result of the initial screening of five crew members of a ship anchored in Bintulu waters which returned from Toyama Port, Japan.
“These cases showed early signs and symptoms of Covid-19. They were brought down from the ship and admitted to the isolation ward, Bintulu Hospital for further treatment and investigation.
“Covid-19 screening conducted on Aug 18 found that four of them were positive for the virus via rT-PCR test,” it said in a statement on Thursday (Aug 20).
Of the four cases, two were locals and the other two were Filipino and Indian citizens.
SDMC further said that screening of the remaining 22 crew of the ship will be done in the near future, including screening of all contacts which are likely to be at risk of contracting the virus during the process of bringing down cases from the ship to the hospital.
“Preliminary investigations had shown that this cluster is caused by a foreign infection, which may be carried by the crew who signed on board the ship during a stopover at an international port.
“Further investigation into this cluster is still underway and tracking and screening of all contacts is in full swing,” it added.
The ship is an oil tanker registered in Port Klang, Malaysia. The travel history of the ship shows that the ship once stopped at Toyama Shinko Port, Japan on July 27 to Aug 1 before stopping at Labuan Port on Aug 10.
While on its way to Bintulu waters, the ship’s captain informed the ship’s agent that there were two crew members who were ill and in need of treatment at the hospital.
The report of four new positive Covid-19 cases has brought the total number of positive cases in the state to 686.
There was one new recovery case, bringing the total number of Covid-19 cases which have recovered and discharged to 661, or 96.36 per cent.
“At present, there are six cases undergoing treatment at isolation wards in hospitals. The total Covid-19 deaths in Sarawak remain at 19 or 2.77 per cent,” it pointed out.
Apart from that, 17 new persons under investigation (PUI) cases were reported while four cases are awaiting lab results.
SDMC also announced that the Stutong Market Cluster has ended after reporting no new cases in the span of 28 days since the last case was reported.
With this, there were seven active clusters in the state – the Engineering Company Cluster with eight cases; Mambong Cluster (seven); Sentosa Cluster (31); Melbourne PUI Cluster (three); Kuching Construction Company Cluster (two); Satok Market Cluster and Alam Cluster (four).
