KUCHING: Sarawak recorded one new imported Covid-19 case in Kuching today, bringing the total number of positive cases thus far to 1,067.
In a statement today, the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) said Case 1,067 was an Indonesian man from Kalimantan, Indonesia.
They said that based on initial investigations, the case was believed to have entered the country illegally as there was no data of his entry into Sarawak.
“The case from Kalimantan, Indonesia entered Sarawak in the middle of November,” said the committee.
The committee said the case had undergone self-screening at a private medical laboratory in Kuching before starting his job as a store assistant in Kuching.
“The case underwent a reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rT-PCR) Covid-19 screening on Dec 1 and the results returned positive on Dec 3,” they said.
They added that prior to this, the case had no history of Covid-19 screening.
“The case did not show any signs or symptoms of Covid-19 infection. He has been admitted into the isolation ward at the Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) for further treatment,” said SDMC.
They said that upon arrival in Sarawak, the case along with a few other friends had undergone self-quarantine for 14 days at a house before taking a Covid-19 test on Dec 1.
“The case did not have close contact to any positive Covid-19 cases identified before this,” they said, adding that further investigation and contact tracing for this case were being actively conducted.
The committee said that until a complete investigation was done, the case would be categorised as an Imported Case A, that is, having been infected while still in their country of origin (Indonesia) based on the case’s history of entry into Sarawak.
As of today, there were still six active clusters in Sarawak, namely the Besi Cluster, Jalan Abell Cluster, Baki Cluster, Seladah Cluster, Green Hill Cluster, and Wisma Saberkas Cluster — all of which are in Kuching.
SDMC said one new case had recovered and been discharged from Miri Hospital today, bringing the cumulative tally of recovered and discharged cases to 1,033 or 96.81 percent of total Covid-19 cases in Sarawak.
They said that there were 15 people undergoing treatment in hospital isolation wards — ten in SGH, three in Miri Hospital, and two in Sibu Hospital.
“Thirty-one new persons-under-investigation (PUI) were reported while two PUIs are still awaiting laboratory results,” said the committee.
