THE number of new Covid-19 cases in Sarawak today dipped slightly to 715, with most of them – 713 or 99.72% – in category 1 (asymptomatic) or category 2 (mild symptoms).

The state disaster management committee said 540 of the cases today were in category 1, 173 (category 2), and one each in category 3 (with lung infection) and category 4 (lung infection and requiring oxygen).

The state registered 1,216 cases yesterday, a new record since the outbreak of the pandemic last year.

Six new clusters were also reported today, four of them in Kuching, one at Sg Menok in Beluru near Miri, and one at Long Maktub in Sebauh near Bintulu.

The Kuching clusters are at the new Stutong resettlement scheme at Stampin, Taman Indah Landeh, Kg Sg Laruh, and Jalan Sg Maong.

The Sg Maong cluster involves staff and pre-schoolers of a kindergarten, as well as members of their families.

In a screening of 99 of them, 20 were found positive, while four are still waiting test results.

Kuching, with 291 cases, and Serian, with 184, are the only two districts with three-digit new infections.

There were also two more deaths reported – one of them an 85 year-old man from Kuching who was dead on arrival at the Sarawak General Hospital.

The other death was also a male who died in the same hospital. He was a 61 year-old Serian man who had a history of chronic diseases like hypertension, kidney disorder and a heart problem.

The fatalities raised the state’s Covid-19 death toll to 479. – August 13, 2021.