KUCHING: All 187 close contacts to the two positive cases from engineering firm cluster were tested negative for Covid-19.
Of the total, 130 of them were colleagues, while 33 were family members and 24 were causal contacts.
Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas disclosed this at a press conference held here yesterday.
He also said that a report of two positive cases in Mambong area had led the Ministry of Health (MoH) to declare the cluster as Mambong cluster.
“A total of 131 close contacts have been detected involving 86 colleagues, 22 family members and 23 causal contacts.
“From that, 68 samples were taken, while the remaining 63 will be taken within one or two days,” he said.
Uggah added that following the recent Covid-19 death involving a senior citizen in Kuching District, random contact tracing was ongoing at several locations that were visited by the patient.
“Today (July 16), a total of 217 preliminary screenings were conducted in the Stutong Community Market area. Of the total, two people were identified with symptoms and 56 samples were taken.
“Tomorrow (July 17), there will be a screening in the Green Road Fresh Market area. Meanwhile, the other locations will include main markets within the next two weeks,” he stated in yesterday’s conference.
At the event Uggah also clarified the issue of 13 persons under investigation (PUI) in Miri reported the previous day, which raised concern amongst the public.
“On the 13 new PUIs reported on Wednesday and three PUIs today (Thursday), they are actually patients of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) and Influenza Like Illness (ILI).
“As part of the monitoring protocol, they were screened to determine whether they have Covid-19 symptoms or not.
“This is only a precautionary measure,” he pointed out.
