THE Sarawak Disaster Management Committee is set to hold an emergency meeting tomorrow, as the Covid-19 outbreak in the state worsens.

They will discuss drastic measures to take now that Kuching has gone back into the red zone.

Of the eight Covid-19 cases reported in the state today, four were in the Kuching district – all from the Sentosa cluster. 

The other four were in the neighbouring Samarahan district.

There was also one new cluster reported – a Kuching construction company.

Deputy Chief Minister Douglas Uggah, in a statement tonight, said the spike in cases in Kuching in the last few days was worrying.

“Today we have eight cases. Yesterday we had nine.

“We have (a total of) 39 cases (reported in the last 14 days as of) today and with one more, Kuching will turn into a red zone.

“When it turns red, it reflects the seriousness of the situation. This warrants certain measures to be taken,” said Uggah, who chairs the committee.

Among the measures to be deliberated, Uggah said, will be a travel ban.

Yesterday, he had merely discouraged travel into and out of Kuching and Samarahan.

Of the four new cases in the Sentosa cluster, an outbreak among health workers at the Sentosa Hospital in Kota Sentosa, they were detected in an ongoing screening of people who have had close contacts with the 16 infected people.

Uggah said two are hospital staff members, one a worker with a company contracted to the hospital and the other a family member of one of the 16 infected people who tested positive on Wednesday.

He said all were asymptomatic cases.

The committee declared the new cluster after a person who had come into contact with the index case tested positive in an ongoing screening.

Uggah said to date, all five family members of the index case have been screened and were negative for the infection.

The other positive cases were a Sarawakian who was randomly tested after returning from Kuala Lumpur and a worker from the construction site cluster. – July 25, 2020.