MIRI – Dozens of new Covid-19 infections are being detected 10 days after a session of cockfighting and drinking at three longhouses in remote Betong, in southern Sarawak.
Forty-two cases were recorded in the last 48 hours, bringing the total in the Jalan Muhibbah cluster to 262, according to reports compiled by health teams conducting swab tests and screenings at the longhouses.
The authorities are expecting more residents to test positive, with about 200 of them yet to get their results.
Many patients in the cluster have exhibited serious symptoms, including acute breathing difficulties.
The index case is a 50-year-old man, who spread the disease when he attended the cockfighting event on March 1.
Netizens have called for stricter checks and enforcement against individuals who participate in cluster-causing activities at longhouses and in towns.
They said the revised maximum fine of RM10,000 must be enforced in Sarawak.
On Monday, the Jalan Muhibbah cluster recorded 55 coronavirus infections.
State Disaster Management Committee chairman Datuk Douglas Uggah Embas told a press conference in Kuching that many Sarawakians’ defiant attitude is shocking, and that cockfighting and drinking sprees among longhouse folk have caused numerous Covid-19 outbreaks.
The state has logged 89 deaths and some 12,000 infections as of yesterday. – The Vibes, March 10, 2021
