FIVE new clusters and over a dozen imported cases pushed Sarawak’s Covid-19 daily cases to 582 today, its highest figure since June 26, when the state registered 673 cases.

The five clusters – four in Kuching and one in Simunjan – are linked to a total of 147 new cases.

The state disaster management committee said health authorities also detected 13 cases among returning Sarawakians at the state’s main entry points.

Of the 13 cases, 10 were from Selangor, and one each from Kuala Lumpur, Malacca and Negri Sembilan. All did not show any symptoms.

Sarawakians returning from the peninsula, Sabah or Labuan have to take the RT-PCR test three days before departure and the result must be negative for them to enter the state.

On arrival, they are still required to undergo the mandatory 14-day quarantine at a government-designated quarantine centre, where they would be subjected to further tests.

The four new Kuching clusters today are all community transmissions in the villages of Paya Mebi, Quop, Senari and Telaga Air.

In the Paya Mebi cluster at Landeh, 17km from the city, 21 villagers tested positive, while in the Quop cluster, 12 villagers were positive. Twenty-five villagers were positive in the Senari cluster.

The only cluster not in Kuching, at Sg Mangga in Simunjan, some 55km from Kuching, is a workplace cluster that had infected 55 oil palm plantation workers and their families.

Sixteen of the victims are Malaysians while the remaining 39 are foreigners.

The disaster committee said 11 new cases were detected in five active clusters – Jalan Demak Laut, Duyoh, Jalan Tatau-Selangau, Jalan Sg Tapang and Mongkos.

While there was an uptick in the number of new cases, there were also positive signs elsewhere.

There were no deaths reported among the 40 severe cases, including 10 intubated cases, in the intensive care units (ICU) at the Sarawak general hospital in Kuching, as well as the Sibu, Sarikei, Bintulu, Kapit and Miri hospitals.

The number of red zone districts has dropped to 17 after Betong moved to the orange zone, having recording only 40 new cases in the last 14 days.

Districts that record more than 41 cases in a two-week period would be categorised as a red zone, 21 to 40 orange, zero to 20 yellow and no cases at all, green.

Of the state’s 40 districts, five are in the orange, 14 in the yellow and four are green. – July 29, 2021.