FIVE employees of a government medical facility in Kota Sentosa, on the outskirts of Kuching, are among the 11 new Covid-19 cases detected in Sarawak today.

Two other infections were reported in Kuching district, Samarahan (2), and Bau and Lundu (1 each).

State health director Dr Chin Zin Hing declined to reveal the facility in question, saying he will leave it to Director-General of Health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah to make the information known.

There are at least four government medical facilities in the area, namely Sentosa Hospital, Sentosa Psychiatric Hospital, a training school, and a maternity and children’s clinic.

The facility, identified as the Sentosa cluster, now has six cases. The index patient, a Sarawakian known as No. 602, tested positive at a private hospital on Saturday, prior to leaving for Penang.

She underwent screening after experiencing mild symptoms for five days.

Deputy Chief Minister Douglas Uggah Embas told a Covid-19 briefing today that 23 of the woman’s colleagues were then tested, with five of them returning positive results.

The source of infection at the facility is under investigation, he said.

He said the situation in the state is under control, with no need to reimpose strict measures like an inter-district travel ban for now.

Travel restrictions will have a lot of consequences for Kuching, which is Sarawak’s administrative and commercial hub, said Uggah.

“We must get a lot of feedback from the public and business community, and we have to discuss it with the chief minister.”

He said the state Disaster Management Committee may reintroduce a travel ban should things escalate despite measures taken to curb the disease.

“If all those don’t work, we’ll probably move in that direction.” – July 21, 2020.