SARAWAK’s Pasai cluster has gotten more deadly with two more deaths linked to it reported today.

The deaths of a 35-year-old woman and 74-year-old man at the Sibu hospital pushed the death toll from the cluster to four in the last two days.

The cluster, on the outskirts of Sibu, reported an increase of 132 cases today, bringing the number of infections to 1,275.

More than 12,000 people linked to the cluster have been screened as of noon today and the numbers could dramatically shoot up as more than 1,700 people are still waiting for their test results.

The state disaster management committee, in reporting the deaths, said the woman who died at 5.20am has a history of high blood pressure and obesity.

The man, who died five hours later at 10.02am, also suffers from high blood pressure and tuberculosis.

The woman was warded at the Sibu hospital yesterday when she began having breathing difficulties.

The committee said the woman, who had a fever, was coughing and had traces of blood in her sputum, was immediately intubated on admission.

Two tests on her, the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction test on January 16 and the antigen rapid test yesterday, both returned positive results, the committee said.

The 74-year-old man, meanwhile, was admitted to Sibu hospital on January 14 after his test taken in a quarantine centre the day before returned positive.

However, the man’s health deteriorated from January 18, leading to him being given respiratory support.

The state reported 193 new cases today, with the bulk again in Sibu – 138.

There were 10 new cases reported in Bintulu, Kuching (9), Dalat (9), Kapit (7), Sebauh (4), Kanowit (2), Selangau (2), Bau (1) and Limbang (1). – January 23, 2021.