Bernama file photo for illustration purposes.
KUCHING (Mar 20): The spike in the number of cases in Sarawak yesterday was due to an outbreak among the detainees in the Semuja Immigration Depo, and was not due to a state-wide outbreak, said Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas.
He was clarifying concerns among some Sarawakians who thought that the 407 new cases in the state yesterday was due to the 138 positive cases among the detainees at the depo, also known as the Semuja Immigration Depo Cluster.
“Some people thought that the high figure was an outbreak all over the state. That’s why we are explaining today that it is due to an outbreak at the Semuja Immigration Depo which has more than 400 inmates. They are all being confined there and they cannot go out,” Uggah explained.
Sarawak yesterday recorded 407 new Covid-19 cases which put it at the top of the list of new cases in the country, surpassing Selangor which had always been at the top before.
He said as of today a total of 704 individuals from that cluster have been screened where 245 have been positive, all are inmates.
Meanwhile 459 were tested negative for Covid-19 consisting of the Immigration Department personnel and close contacts.
“The second screening will be done on March 29,” Uggah added.
On another note, he said to date 56 longhouses were still under lockdown, out of a total of 320 since the start of the pandemic.
At the same time, he said only five areas are under Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO) as of today out of 13 since the start of the pandemic.
“A total of 16,766 individuals from the EMCO areas were screened with 28,354 samples taken. Out of that, 794 were positive for Covid-19, 15,363 negative while 609 still waiting for their lab test results,” said Uggah.
He added that Sibu, Betong, Kuching, Bintulu and Kapit despite still being classified as red zones have been showing a decreasing trend of new cases this week.
“The war is not over yet. Continue to cooperate so that the trend will continue to go down so that we can win this war.
“I am confident that if we continue to cooperate we can overcome this pandemic just like in the previous waves,” said Uggah.
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