Bernama file photo for illustration purposes.
KUCHING (Apr 26): Three new Covid-19 infection clusters were declared by the State Health Department today, two of which involve educational institutions, said the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC).
“These are Sungai Senibung Cluster in Julau, Pondok Cluster in Belaga dan Jalan Sebauh-Bintulu Cluster in Sebauh,” it said in a statement.
Sungai Senibung Cluster involves a secondary school in Sungai Senibung, Julau. The index case to this cluster is a 15-year-old male dormitory student detected through screening of symptomatic individuals on April 20.
The index case began to experience symptoms on April 4 and detected reactive in the RTK Antigen test on April 14, 2021 before being found positive for Covid-19 in rT-PCR on April 20 during isolation in a quarantine centre.
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Previously, the index case was in a longhouse in Nangga Sebuntang before entering the hostel on April 4 for the start of the school session.
From screening staff and students at the school, there was an addition of 13 positive cases. A total of 290 individuals were screened in this cluster, where 241 individuals were found negative in the first swab test, while 35 are still awaiting results.
All 14 individuals tested positive were referred to Sarikei Hospital and have been admitted to Quarantine and Low-Risk Treatment Centre (PKRC) under Sarikei Hospital for the purpose of isolation and further treatment.
The Pondok Cluster in Belaga is a workplace cluster involving personnel of a government premises in Belaga Town.
The index case is a Sarawakian man aged 44 who serves as a uniformed member at the said premises. He was detected from screening of symptomatic individual on April 18 at the Sungai Asap Health Clinic and was found positive in the rT-PCR test conducted on April 21. He started experiencing symptoms on April 8.
The cause is community infection in Belaga, as well as due to the rather crowded living quarters inhabited by 17 other colleagues.
Further investigation and active case detection of the index case led to an additional eight positive cases. A total of 255 individuals were screened, where 116 have been tested negative while 130 are still awaiting results.
All nine positive cases have been referred to Bintulu Hospital and were admitted to PKRC in Bintulu for isolation and further treatment.
The Jalan Sebauh-Bintulu Cluster is another cluster involving a secondary school as well as three longhouses in Jalan Sebauh- Bintulu in Sebauh District.
The index case to this cluster is a 21-year-old Sarawakian man from a longhouse in Jalan Sebauh-Bintulu and was detected through symptomatic individual screening on April 13.
Further investigation found two students from a secondary school having close contact to the index case and they were confirmed positive on April 21.
Further screening of close contacts and casual contacts to the positive cases as well as targeted screening of staff and students at the secondary school, found an additional 66 cases. 20 of them are students at the school.
A total of 318 individuals were screened in this cluster where 236 individuals were found to negative in their first rT-PCR test and 15 are still awaiting laboratory results.
All 67 individuals who tested were positive have been referred to Bintulu Hospital and has been admitted to PKRC under Bintulu Hospital for the purpose of isolation and further treatment.
SDMC informed that the total number of clusters that are still active in the state is 61.
“A total of 15 clusters have recorded a total of 91 additional cases for the day,” it said.
The other clusters that have recorded new cases were Jalan Ding Lik Kwong, Jalan Disa, and Jalan Maju Clusters in Sibu; Jalan Maju in Kanowit; Sungai Duan in Mukah; Disso and Jalan Roban Lama Clusters in Saratok; Jalan Selirik Cluster in Kapit; Sungai Kawi Cluster in Meradong; Putai Cluster in Bukit Mabong; Sungai Passin Cluster in Matu; Duranda Emas and Rayang Clusters in Serian.
Another 46 clusters did not record an increase in cases for the day.
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