SARAWAK has reported another four Covid-19 infections, bringing total cases over the last nine days to 53.

Despite fears that the state is seeing a second wave, Deputy Chief Minister and state Disaster Management Committee chairman Douglas Uggah Embas assured that things are under control, with Kuching yet to be declared a red zone – the categorisation given for places with more than 40 infections.

He said many of the recent cases are imported, with local transmissions largely contained.

Of the four new cases, one is from the Stutong wet market cluster, Sentosa medical facility cluster (1) and Kuching engineering firm cluster (1). The fourth is a woman who got tested for the coronavirus at a government clinic on Tuesday despite not having symptoms.

Uggah said the first three cases had been in close contact with the index patient in each cluster.

The Stutong cluster now has seven patients, while the latest case in the Sentosa cluster – a female employee, who is asymptomatic – brings its total to eight. The Kuching cluster has three cases, with the latest being a male patient.

The spike in infections in Sarawak began on July 15, when three were reported – two from the engineering firm and one from the medical facility.

Only one case was registered the following day, but Friday saw six infections in Kuching district, Samarahan (2) and Bintulu (2).

The patients in Bintulu, both foreigners, had reportedly come into close contact with a virus-positive Indonesian aboard the liquefied natural gas tanker Jupiter on July 13.

New cases over the next three days were in the single digits, but Tuesday saw the figure rising to 11. Yesterday saw nine cases.

The sources of the local transmissions have yet to be determined.

Uggah said the cases in the state are scattered across Kuching, Samarahan, Bau and Ludu, adding that the Bintulu infections are considered isolated. – July 23, 2020.