Bernama file photo
KUCHING (Aug 23): The Covid-19 death toll in Sarawak breached the 500 mark today after three deaths were recorded in the state, said the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC).
Thhe death toll in Sarawak now stands at 501.
Sarawak also recorded 1,538 new cases today, bringing the total cumulative tally of cases to 99,838.
SDMC in its daily update said that two of the deaths were recorded in Kuching, while the other was recorded in Daro.
“One of the deaths in Kuching involves a 69-year-old man who tested positive on Aug 7 and later passed away at the Sarawak General Hospital (SGH). He had hypertensioin, dyslipidemia, gout and chronic kidney disease.
“The other death in Kuching involves an 80-year-old man who tested positive on July 31 and later passed away at SGH. He had no comorbidities,” SDMC said.
The 501st death was an 86-year-old man without any comorbidities who had tested positive on Aug 21 and later passed away at the Daro Hospital.
Meanwhile, Kuching district continued to top the list of infections with 615 cases, followed by Serian (129), Lundu (115), Samarahan (103) and Pusa (102).
Other districts that recorded double-digit cases were Simunjan (65), Pakan (51), Belaga (44), Sibu (42), Bintulu (33), Sri Aman (22), Subis (21), Selangau (21), Song (20), Miri (16), Betong (16), Tebedu (11) and Asajaya (10).
Districts registering single-digit cases were Lubok Antu (9), Meradong (9), Kanowit (7), Sarikei (6), Saratok (6), Tatau (6), Sebauh (5), Lawas (3), Beluru (2), Kapit (1) and Kabong (1).
SDMC said 203 cases of the total new infections today were asymptomatic during testing while 876 others were detected through close contact tracing.
It added that 288 infections of the total new cases are linked to the existing active Covid-19 clusters.
“Four individuals who returned from Indonesia tested positive for the virus and they are categorised as Import A cases. Three others who came back from Kuala Lumpur and two others from Sabah, who also tested positive, are categorised as Import B cases.”
According to SDMC, 86.8 per cent and 12.94 per cent of the total infections fall under Category 1 and 2, for no symptoms and mild symptoms respectively.
The committee said only one case belonged to Category 3, which had pneumonia and three other cases fell under Category 5, which had pneumonia requiring to be on ventilator.
SDMC said Sarawak had 435 new recovery and discharged cases today, bringing the total number to 82,956 or 83.09 per cent of the state’s total cases.
There are currently 16,192 active cases in the state, it added.