A NEW Covid-19 cluster – Bah Arnab – has been detected in the state, after three members of a Kuching family tested positive for the virus.

State disaster management committee chairman Douglas Uggah said the index case was a man who commuted frequently between Sabah and Sarawak on business.

The man was screened last Friday on arrival at the Kuching international airport on his return from Sabah and the results that came out on Monday showed he was positive.

Uggah said the spread was due to the fact that the standard operating procedure (SOP) in place at the time did not require the man to undergo mandatory quarantine in a designated quarantine hotel.

Uggah, who is also deputy chief minister, said since the test results would only be known later, the man was instead asked to undergo self-quarantine at home.

Instead of observing the home quarantine SOP, Uggah said the man “mixed with his family”.

Pointing to a similar case where a policeman had infected a female member of his family after returning from election duty in Sabah, Uggah said if the mandatory quarantine had been in place then and they were quarantined in the hotel, “this (spread) would not have happened”.

Sarawak has since tightened its entry rule making it mandatory for all travellers, including Sarawakians, entering the state to undergo a 14-day quarantine.

The three members of the man’s family were among 16 people the health department had pulled in for tests on Tuesday after they were deemed to be close contacts.

Uggah said at the moment, the cluster is under control as it is confined only to immediate members of the index case’s family.

He nonetheless said contact tracing and investigation into the source of infection by the state health department is ongoing.

Sarawak today detected eight cases – the highest number since the 25 detected at the end of July.

Five were detected in Kuching, including the three in the Bah Arnab cluster, two in Miri and one in Bintulu.

Four of the cases were local transmissions, with two categorised as “Import A” cases – imported from a foreign country – and the other two categorised as “Import B” cases – imported from states in Malaysia. – October 8, 2020.