KUCHING: Sarawak recorded one new positive Covid-19 case in Bintulu on Friday, bringing the total number of positive cases in the state thus far to 697.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said the 697th case was an imported case involving a Filipino man, 42, who had entered Malaysia to work as an able-bodied worker and would sign on at a ship in Bintulu.
“His travel history showed that he had taken a flight on August 25 from Manila to Kuala Lumpur (KL) through Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) 2. The case spent one night at KLIA 2 before boarding a plane to Bintulu on August 26 through Bintulu Airport.
“Upon arrival at Bintulu Airport, the case was immediately taken to the hotel quarantine centre in Bintulu to undergo the mandatory 14-day quarantine,” he revealed at the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) Covid-19 daily update press conference on Friday.
He said the case had not shown any signs or symptoms.
He said that before returning to Malaysia, the case informed that he had undergone a reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rT-PCR) swab test in the Philippines, with the test results in the Philippines on August 18 and 23 returning negative for Covid-19.
“Upon arrival in KL, the case was screened using Rapid Test Kit Antigen (RTK-Antigen) on August 25 and this test result was also negative,” said Uggah, who is also SDMC chairman.
He said that while undergoing quarantine at the hotel quarantine centre in Bintulu, the case was swabbed for the first rT-PCR test on August 26 and the laboratory result on August 27 found him to be Covid-19 positive.
“The case was admitted to the Bintulu Hospital isolation ward on the same day for treatment. Contact tracing and further investigation for this case are still being carried out,” he said.
He said as of Friday, there was still one remaining active cluster in the state, namely the Alam Cluster involving seven cases.
He reported that no new cases had recovered and been discharged from hospitals on Friday, with the total number of recovered and discharged cases thus far remaining at 662 or 94.98 percent.
“Sixteen individuals are still receiving treatment at hospital isolation wards — ten in Bintulu Hospital, four in Sarawak General Hospital, and one each in Sibu Hospital and Miri Hospital,” he said.
Uggah said that 11 person-under-investigation (PUI) cases were reported on Friday while none were awaiting laboratory results.
According to him, 93 persons-under-surveillance (PUS) were checked into hotels on Friday to undergo quarantine, bringing the total number of PUS at 14 hotels to 889, while 22,667 PUS had completed their quarantine period.
Meanwhile, he said the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) had issued 12 compound notices for non-compliance with the standard operating procedure (SOP) — six in Kuching, Padawan (two), Sarikei (two), Kota Samarahan (one), and Betong (one).
On Ops Benteng, he said there were six roadblocks in five districts on Friday, namely two in Lundu and one each in Bau, Serian, Sri Aman, and Lubok Antu. “From these six roadblocks, a total of 1,164 vehicles were checked.”
