KUCHING: The five Covid-19 cases in Bintulu, which began with a student who returned home from a higher learning institution in Mukah, have been classified as a new cluster.
Sarawak Health Department deputy director Dr Rosemawati Ariffin said this ‘family cluster’ comprised the female student and four members of her family.
“They are all from the same family,” she informed reporters during the daily Covid-19 press conference by Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC), here yesterday.
SDMC chairman Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah said the latest case from this cluster was detected via close-contact tracing yesterday, bringing the total number of positive cases recorded in the state since March 13 to 561.
The student, who arrived back in Bintulu from Mukah in March, tested positive for the virus on June 14 following a directive from SDMC that all higher learning institution students returning to their respective hometowns undergo screening.
The committee had previously said that initial investigation found she had received visits from several relatives during Hari Raya last month.
Uggah meanwhile said the state currently has 10 active Covid-19 cases – five at Sarawak General Hospital and the family cluster cases at Bintulu Hospital.
Separately, Uggah said SDMC will announce a community policing programme next week to monitor SOP compliance in non-Muslim places of worships.
“Enforcement has always been a challenge, not only to the churches and places of worship but also to all other premises. So we have a task force to monitor that, but more importantly the community themselves must play their part.
Source Link : https://www.theborneopost.com/2020/06/18/new-covid-19-cluster-identified/ (THE BORNEO POST)
by 
