KUCHING: Three new positive Covid-19 cases were reported in Sarawak today, bringing the total number of positive cases in the state thus far to 755.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said of these three cases, one each was reported in Kuching, Miri and Limbang.
He said Case 753 was a local man with a travel history from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. He had stopped in Labuan before arriving at Miri Airport on Oct 9.
“The case is a technician at an oil rig in Sabah waters and had been on the rig since Sept 8 before signing off on Oct 8,” he said at the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) Covid-19 update press conference.
He said upon arrival at Miri Airport, the case was placed in a quarantine centre for a mandatory 14-day quarantine. On Oct 11, the case had undergone his first Covid-19 screening and the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rT-PCR) test results returned positive on Oct 13.
“The case was admitted into Miri Hospital on the same day for further treatment,” he said, adding that contact tracing efforts for this case were being actively conducted.
Case 754, on the other hand, was a student from a public institution of higher learning (IPTA) with a travel history from Kinarut, Sabah from Sept 25 to Oct 3.
“While in Sabah, the case was reported to have undergone Covid-19 screening using rT-PCR on Sept 28 and 30, and both these tests were negative,” said Uggah, who is also SDMC chairman.
He said that the case had attended the wedding ceremony of a close relative in Kinarut. Further investigation discovered that the case’s uncle in Kinarut who had attended the ceremony tested positive for Covid-19 via rT-PCR on Oct 12.
He said that upon arrival in Kuching International Airport on Oct 3, the case underwent a Covid-19 screening and was entered into a quarantine centre for a mandatory 14-day quarantine. Her first rT-PCR screening test had returned negative.
“On Oct 12, the case underwent her Day 10 screening at the quarantine centre and the rT-PCR test was found positive on Oct 13. The case was admitted into Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) for further treatment,” he said.
Uggah said Case 755 involved a female student at a religious school in Kimanis, Sabah who had returned to Lawas due to the school’s closure during the conditional movement control order (CMCO) there.
He said the case had obtained permission to return to Sarawak on Oct 8 and was sent to ICQ Merapok, Lawas using a school bus.
“When she arrived in Lawas, the case was taken to a quarantine centre to undergo the 14-day mandatory quarantine,” he said.
However, he said the case was moved to a quarantine centre in Limbang District on Oct 9 using an express boat because the centre in Lawas was short of quarantine rooms.
“The case underwent her first Covid-19 screening on Oct 10 at the quarantine centre and the rT-PCR test was found positive on Oct 13. The case was referred to Miri Hospital for further treatment the same day,” he said, adding that the case had experienced early symptoms on Oct 9.
All three new cases were categorised as being infected while in a high-risk Covid-19 area, namely Sabah.
Uggah said one new case had recovered and been discharged from SGH on Wednesday, bringing the total number of recovered and discharged cases statewide so far to 691, or 91.52 percent.
He said four new person-under-investigation (PUI) cases were reported while two PUIs were still awaiting laboratory results.
He added that 69 new persons-under-surveillance (PUS) were checked into hotels to undergo quarantine, bringing the total number of PUS at 21 hotels to 1,903 while 26,194 PUS had completed their quarantine period.
