HARI Raya gatherings and visits have been pinpointed as the cause of the sudden spike in new Covid-19 cases in Kuching district today.

The district, which only had 72 cases yesterday, doubled it to 149 today, according to the daily state disaster management committee’s report.

Most of the cases are individuals who have been identified as having had contact with earlier positive cases.

The disaster committee said “over 95%” of the 149 new cases are family members of the earlier cases who ignored the movement restriction standard operating procedures.

The high number of cases in Kuching pushed Sarawak’s total number of cases to 749 – a record high for state.

The new infections in Kuching, Sibu (125), Miri (93) and Mukah (79) make up 59.55% of the cases, according to the state disaster management committee.

It said of the 749 cases, only 80 were detected as “possible positive, as they showed symptoms of the infection”.

Two deaths linked to Covid-19 were also reported today, pushing the state’s toll to 249.

The fatalities were that of a 75-year-old woman, who died on Thursday, and a 77-year-old man, who died yesterday. Both died in the Miri Hospital.

The woman was referred to the hospital by a health clinic where she had gone to seek treatment after having breathing difficulties.

The woman, who suffered from a chronic kidney ailment, had high blood pressure and was a diabetic, was confirmed positive just before she died.

Similarly, the man was warded for having breathing difficulties five days before his death.

On the plus side, the disaster committee said 769 people have recovered from the Covid-19 infection and were discharged from hospital. – May 22, 2021.