KUCHING: The Sarawak Health Department has declared six new Covid-19 clusters, namely three in Kuching District and one each in Lundu, Bau and Miri.
The Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) in a statement on Thursday (April 29) disclosed that the three clusters in Kuching District were Tabuan Jaya Cluster, Taman Pelita Cluster and Tabuan Melayu Cluster.
SDMC said the Tabuan Jaya Cluster involved an education institution under the Ministry of Education (MOE), which is a secondary school in Tabuan Jaya.
“The case index is Case 23,023, a 16-year-old student who was detected through screening of symptomatic individuals on April 16.
He has a history of interzone travel, having gone back to Sri Aman before going to the hostel on April 5.
“A total of 252 individuals were screened in which 22 including the case index were found Covid-19 positive consisting of students and the school’s staff while 225 were negative and five cases are awaiting laboratory results.”
The Taman Pelita Cluster is a community cluster traced to Taman Pelita Jaya, Jalan Sultan Tengah, Petra Jaya.
“The cluster is from a funeral ceremony which took place on April 14. The case index is a 22-year-old woman who was detected through screening of symptomatic individual on April 21 at a private hospital.
“The result of investigation and detection of close contact to the case index as well as other positive cases in this cluster found an addition of five new cases.
“A total of 82 individuals were screened whereby six including the case index were positive, 52 were negative and 24 are still awaiting laboratory result.”
The Tabuan Melayu Cluster is also a community cluster detected in Kampung Tabuan Melayu.
“Case 22,197 is the case index to this cluster and he is a 58-year-old local man who was detected on April 15 at Jalan Masjid Health Clinic.
“He was undergoing screening before a journey to Bintulu for work purposes as he is a mechanic at a local company.
“The case index got infected when he was in Bintulu between April 3 and 9 and he transmitted the virus to family members as well as contacts in the village.
“The result of active case detection among family members and social contacts to the case index found an addition of four new cases.
“A total of 66 individuals were screened with five including the case index being Covid-19 positive, 52 were negative and nine cases are still awaiting laboratory result.”
Meanwhile, the Durin Cluster is a workplace cluster at a seafood restaurant in Jalan Penghulu Durin, Bau District.
The case index is a 32-year-old local woman who is the restaurant’s worker and she was detected through screening of symptomatic individuals on April 15.
“She was detected at Bau Hospital after complaining of experiencing symptoms since April 11. The case index got the infection from the community at her workplace and the transmission of the infection involved her workplace colleagues and family members.
“The result of further investigation and screening of close contact to the case index found an addition of five new cases in which 96 individuals were screened.”
The Sileng Dayak Cluster is a community cluster involving a village in Sileng Dayak, Lundu District.
“The case index is a 46-year-old local man who was detected through screening of symptomatic individuals on April 20 at Lundu Hospital after complaining of chest pains and difficulty in breathing.
“The case index got the infection from the community and it is believed that the spread of infection happened among his family members through a family gathering on April 19.
“He had close contact with the other villagers too. The enhanced movement control order (EMCO) had to be implemented in the village and targeted screening was conducted involving all villagers.
“A total of 1,740 individuals were screened in which 72 including the case index were positive, 1,454 were negative and 214 are awaiting laboratory results.”
Meanwhile, the Sains Bakam Cluster involves an education institution under MoE, which is a secondary school in Jalan Bekam, Miri District.
The case index is a 15-year-old male student who was detected through screening of symptomatic individual on April 19.
“The spread of infection happened because of a gotong-royong activity which took place on April 5 and through tarawih prayers organised by the school for students staying in the hostel.
“A total of 464 individuals were screened in which 17 including the index case were positive, 373 were negative and 74 are still awaiting laboratory result.”
