KUCHING, April 4 — The Tembok cluster in Sri Aman district is the highest contributor of new COVID-19 infections in Sarawak today with 159 cases, according to State Disaster Management Committee chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas.
Uggah, who is also the state’s deputy chief minister said the Tembok Cluster involved detainees and staff at the Sri Aman Central Prison.
“(As of today) a total of 322 detainees have been screened, where 156 detainees were detected positive (79 Malaysians and 77 non-Malaysians) and 166 are still awaiting laboratory results, while for prison staff, 131 have been screened and three confirmed positive, eight found negative, and 120 still waiting for their results,” he said in a press conference here today.
Uggah said the Sri Aman Central Prison had also been gazetted as a COVID-19 Quarantine and Treatment Centre for positive cases involving detainees, while the hall at the prison was used for staff who tested positive.
The Sarawak State Health Department also declared two new clusters, namely the Sungai Mupong Cluster in Meradong and the Sungai Rassau Cluster in Matu, however, full details on the clusters have yet to be released.
There were 419 new cases of COVID-19 reported throughout Sarawak today – the second-highest daily total so far – bringing the cumulative number of cases in the state to 17,554.
Another COVID-19-related death was also reported, taking the total number of people who have succumbed to the disease in Sarawak to 114.
