THE 26th coronavirus cluster in Sarawak stemmed from a Chinese New Year open house in Samarahan, said the state disaster management committee today.

The index case in the Jalan Ho Pin cluster was a 22-year-old women, who is case 7,636. 

She was found to be infected during a screening on February 18, several days after the festive gathering of family and friends.

Following close contact tracing,120 people were screened. Results for 13 people were positive, 41 negative, and the rest still pending. 

The 14 infected are warded into either the Sarawak general hospital in Kuching or a low-risk patients’ treatment centre.

Another cluster linked to a Chinese New Year gathering originated in the rural town of Betong, 140km from Kuching.

The Jalan Muhibbah cluster has so far logged 26 cases, after more than 200 people who attended the event were screened for Covid-19. Nearly a hundred of them have had their health cleared and the rest are waiting for their test results. 

Meanwhile, three active clusters in the state reported new cases today.

The Emperoh Jambu cluster in Kuching logged 16 new cases for a total 117 cases while the Sungai Bakong cluster in Meradong reported 13 new cases. a new infection was detected in the Jalan Green cluster in Kuching, to take total cases to 17.

The Jalan Green cluster was the result of two men fighting over a woman on Valentine’s Day.

Police who rounded up the battling Romeos found themselves in quarantine after the two men they arrested tested positive for the virus in lock-up.

According to data from the state disaster committee, 200 people were screened and 162 have tested negative. The others are awaiting their test results.

Two people died from the infection over 24 hours in Sarawak, raising the death toll to 78 in the state, which reported 219 new cases today.
 
The deceased were two Sibu women aged 74 and 90.

The younger woman was admitted to the Sibu hospital after complaining of fever, cough and breathing difficulty. She tested positive for Covid-19 on February 19 and died yesterday.

The older patient found to be infected during screening after she came into contact with an infected person. She died today in the Sibu hospital.

Both women had serious underlying medical conditions. – February 24, 2021.