KUCHING: Three more positive Covid-19 cases were reported in Sarawak yesterday, bringing the total number of cases in the state to 488 since the first positive case was reported on March 13.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said one was from Kuching, one from Samarahan and one from Bintulu.
“For the Bintulu case, the patient has just returned from visiting a relative in Kota Samarahan.
“They tracked her down because the relative she visited was Covid-19 positive. The woman later tested positive and now she is in Bintulu,” he told a press conference on the daily Covid-19 update yesterday.
Uggah, who is also the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman, added, “This is why the state government is very strict and restricts inter-district travel to prevent anyone from catching and spreading the disease.
“As of today, 17 positive cases have recovered and were discharged from hospital, bringing the total number of recovered cases to 194,” he said.
Of the recovered cases, 16 were from Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) and one from Hospital Miri.
“The person under investigation (PUI) cases have increased to 183 compared to 177 cases the day before and 332 cases are still awaiting laboratory test results,” he said.
Uggah added two more healthcare workers in Kuching had tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total to 52.
“Twenty of them are from the Kuching Conference cluster while 31 involved minor clusters,” he said.
He pointed out that these healthcare workers were not necessarily infected while at work; they could be infected from certain clusters.
On Sarawakians returning from overseas and other states, Uggah revealed there were 82 more person under surveillance (PUS) cases. All had been transported to designated hotels for quarantine.
“To date, there are 1,160 PUS being quarantined at 20 hotels in the state. Meanwhile, 1,128 people have completed the quarantine period and were allowed to return home,” he said.
On the two more healthcare workers who tested positive, State Health Director Dr Chin Zin Hing said one was from Kuching while another one was from Samarahan.
