THE Lambda Covid-19 variant that is prevalent in South America has not yet been detected in Sarawak, scientists at the Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) Institute of Health and Community Medicine (IHCM) who are watching for new variants reported today.

The head of the institute, Dr David Perera, said Sarawakians should not panic over it as the variant, designated C.37 by the international scientific community, is for now only a variant of interest (VOI).

He said, moreover, Lambda has not even been detected in peninsular Malaysia or neighbouring Asean countries.

But on the other hand, the steady rise in the number of Covid-19 daily cases in the state is raising concern.

On Tuesday, the number of new cases reported was 494, on Wednesday 552, and today 759 to surpass the record of 673 registered on June 26.

The number of cases in two districts, Kuching and Subis, with their three-digit cases, make up nearly two-thirds of the cases in the state.

There were 330 cases reported in Kuching in the last 24 hours, while Subis registered 160 – all from the Mega Suai cluster.

Twenty-five of the state’s 40 districts reported at least one case today.

The state disaster management committee, in its daily report, stated that the state health department had also declared five new clusters today – two in Kuching, two in Miri and one in Tatau.

The two Kuching clusters, both linked to community transmissions, are at the Bidayuh village of Kg Seratau and the Malay village of Kg Bintawa Ulu.

Both villages have been locked down a couple of days earlier.

Out of 1,084 villagers screened at Kg Seratau, 352 were found positive but the number could rise as the test results of 360 others are still pending.

In the Kg Bintawa Ulu cluster, 10 more new cases were reported today to raise the number of infections there to 72.

There were also two deaths reported today – a 48 year-old woman who died at the Bintulu hospital and a 61 year-old Miri man who was dead on arrival at the Sibu hospital.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg, on a working visit to the remote settlement of Long Singut deep in the Kapit hinterland today, said he is optimistic Sarawak would achieve its target of getting 80% of its adult population vaccinated, and therefore herd immunity, by the middle of this month or September the latest.

Long Singut is a Kenyah settlement in ulu Baleh, close to the Sarawak-Kalimantan border. – August 5, 2021.