KUCHING: Sarawak recorded eight new positive Covid-19 cases, with seven local transmissions and one imported case on New Year’s Day.
Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) said today (Jan 1) said three each were reported in Kuching and Meradong, and one each in Bintulu and Miri, bringing the total number of cases statewide to 1,125.
“In Kuching, Case 1,118 involves a local man who has undergone the Covid-19 swab test at a private hospital in the city following fever and cough since Dec 29.
“The man is working in a telecommunications industry in Kuching and has previously received treatment at a private clinic before undergoing further examination and Covid-19 screening at the private hospital,” SDMC said in a statement.
The case had rested at home before getting treatment on Dec 31 and the rT-PCR test came back positive on the same day.
SDMC said Case 1,119 involved a local woman who worked as a life insurance planning agent and is also a household contact to Case 1,118. She had gone for the swab test at a private hospital in the city on Dec 31 after having cough and the test result came back positive on the same day.
Case 1,120 involved a local man working as a sales executive who went for a swab test at a private hospital in the city after having cough and fever on Dec 31. Preliminary investigations showed this case also had close contacts with Case 1,118.
All these cases are classified as local transmission as they do not have a history of travelling abroad or to other states in Malaysia. They have all been sent to Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) for further treatment.
As for the cases in Meradong, SDMC said Case 1,121, 1,122 and 1,123 involved three family members who have been screened after having close contacts with Case 1,115 where the case had been instructed to undergo home quarantine after returning from Kuala Lumpur on Dec 19 and testing positive on Dec 29.
It said all these cases were admitted to the quarantine centre for isolation on Dec 29 and were screened on Dec 30 where the rT-PCR tests conducted on Dec 31 at Sibu Hospital were found to be positive.
SDMC said one case lost the sense of smell on Dec 28, one had cough on Dec 31 and another was asymptomatic. All these cases have been referred to Sibu Hospital for further treatment.
It said the cases was classified as local transmission who got infected from Case 1,115.
As for the positive case in Bintulu, SDMC said Case 1,124 involved a man from China who had gone for the swab test at a private hospital in Bintulu on Dec 30 as a requirement before returning to China. The case works at an iron factory in Samalaju, Bintulu since 2017 and had returned to China in March 2019.
It said the case was also with 14 other friends who went through Covid-19 screening on Dec 31 and the case was found positive the same day. The case had complained of having a runny nose on Dec 22 but did not go for further examination.
The Bintulu Division Health Office found out about the results of the case on Dec 31, and the man along with his other 14 friends were already putting up at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur. Further investigation showed that they were taken by a company vehicle to Miri Airport before boarding the plane to Kuala Lumpur.
It said the case has been referred to the Selangor State Health Office for further action and the case will be admitted to Sungai Buloh Hospital for further treatment.
Based on the history of travel and movement of the case, the case is classified as a local transmission as he was infected at work in Bintulu. The Bintulu Division Health Office is now actively conducing contact tracing of the case.
SDMC said Case 1,125 involved a man from Selangor who entered Sarawak through Miri Airport from Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Dec 27. The case is from Banting, Selangor and works as a civil servant in Miri who returned to his hometown on Dec 13 for holiday.
SDMC said the case has re-entered Sarawak and arrived at Miri Airport on Dec 27 and was ordered to undergo quarantine at home. The case took the rT-PCR test on Dec 29.
It said the case had a fever on Dec 30 and the test result came back positive on Dec 31, and he had been referred to Miri Hospital for treatment.
SDMC said this case is being classified as Import B which has been infected with the virus while being in Selangor, a high-risk area for Covid-19.
The committee also said the status of Meradong has changed from green to yellow zone for Covid-19 after the three new reported cases today.
Kuching, Sibu, Bintulu and Lawas districts continue to remain as yellow zone with a total of eight local transmissions cases reported in the last 14 days, four are reported in Kuching, two in Bintulu and one each in Sibu and Lawas. Thirty-five other districts remain as green zone.
