MIRI – Sarawak registered another death due to Covid-19 today, plus 512 new infections that involved many students and teachers.
The death of a 67-year-old woman at Miri Hospital due to Covid-19 takes the fatality tally to 136, said state Disaster Management Committee chairman Datuk Douglas Uggah Embas today at a press conference in Kuching.
There are three new clusters today, he said.
The Jalan Disa Sibu cluster involves a religious primary school where a teacher and 20 students tested positive.
Meanwhile, the Ulu Balingian cluster in Selangau district saw 101 students and teachers at a secondary school being infected, with the index case being a 16-year-old student, he said.
The Jalan Ding Lik Kiong cluster in Sibu saw 16 factory workers infected with Covid-19, and there are 49 active clusters statewide, said Uggah.
He said of the 512 new cases, Kuching district recorded the most with 37, followed by Bintulu (149), Selangau (105), Mukah (17), Sibu (95), Miri (22), Samarahan (15), Kapit (12), and Song (12), with other districts logging fewer than 10 cases each.
Uggah said a decision will be made soon as to whether schools will be closed in districts with high infection rates.
He also said the police have tightened inter-zone movements to curb the coronavirus spread, having issued more than 15,000 compounds over the past month.
Projections made by health authorities show that Sarawak may see triple-digit increases in Covid-19 infections every day for the next two to four weeks.
State Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian had warned that out of every existing 100 positive infections now, another 118 will be infected.
“Due to this high rate of infection, we in Sarawak will see triple-digit surges of Covid-19 infections daily for the next two to four weeks at least.
“Whether we impose a full MCO (movement control order) or not, we may see this happening every day,” he said in his social media chat groups.
Sarawak is one of the three states worst-hit by the pandemic in the country, with about 21,950 cases to date.
Uggah said Sarawakians have no choice but to strictly obey every standard operating procedure in place with regard to wearing face masks and practising social distancing and personal hygiene. – The Vibes, April 17, 2021
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