THE number of the highly transmissible Delta variant of the Covid-19 virus has risen to 76 in Sarawak after it was detected in two active clusters, the state disaster management committee said today.

Committee chairman Deputy Chief Minister Douglas Uggah said the Delta variant (B.1.167.2) has been detected in samples from the Sentosa2 and Pagar Satok clusters in Kuching.

The number of cases involving the strain was only 17 on July 4 and in less than two weeks, 59 new cases were detected.

The Sentosa2 cluster is an outbreak among health workers, contract workers, patients and visitors at the Sentosa hospital in Kota Sentosa while the Pagar Satok cluster is an outbreak among detainees at the Satok police station lockup.

As of yesterday, the number of positive cases in the Sentosa2 cluster was 129 and 24 in the Pagar Satok cluster.

When the state health department declared the Sentosa2 cluster on July 14, the number of cases detected was 52. Yesterday, the number had jumped to 129.

In the Pagar Satok cluster, 11 of the victims were foreigners.

Uggah said a majority of the new Delta cases – 52 – were detected in Kuching, with the variant also detected in Serian district (11 cases), Samarahan (3), Sri Aman (5) and one each in Sibu, Miri and Betong districts.

The Delta variant was first detected in the state on June 18 but authorities kept a lid on it until July 8.

A 56-year old man from Kuching, who had returned to Sarawak from a state in the country, “imported” the variant. – July 21, 2021.