Bernama File Photo
KUCHING (Feb 22): Sarawak’s new Covid-19 cases today spiked up to 221 after a surge of new cases were recorded in Kuching district at 67, said Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas.
The Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman in a press conference today said the surge in Kuching was due to a new Emperoh Jambu Cluster in Padawan which recorded 42 new cases today.
Sarawak also recorded one death in Sibu, bringing the total tally of fatalities from the coronavirus in the state to 74.
The latest death is of a local 58-year-old man who was admitted into the Sibu Hospital after experiencing fever, coughing and breathing difficulty.
His sample was tested for Covid-19 on Feb 7 and his result returned positive for the virus on the same day.
According to Uggah, the man’s health continued to deteriorate and he eventually died on Feb 20.
“The case has a history of comorbidity of Mixed Connective Tissue Disease (MCTD) with pulmonary involvement,” he said.
According to new cases breakdown per district, Kuching tops the list today with 67 new cases where 42 were from the new Emperoh Jambu Cluster, 12 from voluntary screenings, 10 from active case detection (ACD), two involving the Kampung Sungai Maong Cluster and one involving a healthcare worker.
Sibu District today recorded 63 cases where 43 were from ACD, seven from voluntary screenings, seven involving healthcare workers, three involving the Pasai Cluster and three from symptomatic patients.
In Bintulu, out of a total of 28 new cases, 20 were from ACD, three from voluntary screenings where one of them just returned from Miri, two involving the Jun Heng Cluster, two from symptomatic patients and one involving the Kidurong Dua Cluster.
In Meradong, 24 new cases were recorded where 19 involved the Sungai Bakong Cluster and five from ACD, while in Kapit out of 15 new cases, eight involved the Gelong Cluster, five from ACD, one was a symptomatic patient, and one from voluntary screening.
Kapit District recorded 15 new cases where eight involved the Gelong Cluster, five from ACD, one was a symptomatic patient and one from voluntary screening.
In Samarahan, 11 new cases were recorded where seven were from the Emperoh Jambu Cluster, two Univista Cluster and two from voluntary screenings.
Meanwhile, five new cases in Miri were all from ACD, three in Bau from ACD, and two on Subis from the Pasai Tangap Cluster.
Beluru District recorded one new case after a voluntary screening, one in Betong of a symptomatic patient, and one in Kanowit involving the Pasai Cluster.
On the bright side, 111 cases have recovered and discharged today, where 38 were from the Kapit Covid-19 Treatment and Quarantine Centre (PKRC), Sibu Hospital (36), Miri Hospital (15), Sarawak General Hospital (13), Sarikei Hospital (8) and Limbang Hospital (1).
To date a total of 5,885 cases have recovered from Covid-19 in the state of 72.08 per cent out of 8,164 cases in the state since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020.
Meanwhile, a total of 2,175 active cases were being treated in hospitals state-wide, where 1,165 were in Sibu Hospital, SGH (285), Miri Hospital (237), Bintulu Hospital (213), Kapit PKRC (204), Sarikei Hospital (44) and Sri Aman PKRC (27).
Meanwhile, SDMC also recorded 270 new person-under-investigation (PUI) cases where three were still waiting for their lab test results.
At the same time, 546 new person-under-surveillance (PUS) cases were recorded in the state today, making it a total of 5,238 cases being quarantined in 85 hotels and other accommodations across Sarawak.