THERE were 14 deaths due to Covid-19 reported in Sarawak today, with 13 of them backlogged cases going as far back as 10 days ago. 

Half of the deaths were dead-on-arrival cases, according to the state disaster management committee. 

Except for an 86-year-old man who was DOA at the Sarawak General Hospital in Kuching on Tuesday, with no history of any serious illness, the other six DOA cases were of people who had co-morbidities ranging from cancer to asthma, chronic kidney problem, diabetes, hypertension, and obesity. 

The youngest of the victims was a 43-year-old Kuching man with a history of hypertension and diabetes while the oldest was the 86-year-old.

The 43-year-old died on Wednesday. 

The committee’s daily update also showed that apart from a 70-year-old woman who was DOA at the Serian hospital on September 14 and a 66-year-old Sibu man who was already dead prior to being brought to the Sibu hospital on September 16, the rest were all from Kuching – the state’s worst-hit district. 

The death toll for the state now stands at 724, with 117 of them DOA cases.

Of the 2,825 new cases reported today, 744 were from the Kuching district. 

Sibu trailed not far behind with 324 cases. 

Other districts with three-digit cases were Miri with 319 cases, Bintulu (235), Sri Aman (146) and Serian (126). 

As of yesterday, the number of victims needing hospitalisation was 938 or 2.2% of the 41,817 active cases. 

Seventy-seven, or 0.2% of them were category 4 cases – in intensive care units (ICU) but not requiring ventilation - while 44, or 0.1%, were in category 5, in ICUs requiring ventilation. – September 24, 2021.