Sarawak reports two new Covid-19 cases, one fatality

KUCHING: Sarawak reported two new Covid-19 cases and one death on Saturday (July 11), taking the state's total cases to 577 with 18 fatalities.

The state disaster management committee said the latest fatality was a 72-year-old local man with a history of diabetes and high blood pressure.

"He was initially treated at Borneo Medical Centre here on July 9 for fever and was then referred to the Sarawak General Hospital, where he was admitted to the isolation ward.

"His polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test came back positive on July 10.

"His condition worsened and he passed away on the same day.

"The cause of death was multi-organ failure due to pneumonia and Covid-19," the committee said in a statement.

The committee said the man suffered from severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) and was likely to be a local transmission as he had no history of overseas travel.

"Contact tracing and investigations into the source of his infection are ongoing," it said.

The committee said the second new case was an imported one involving a Sarawakian man who had returned from Britain.

It said the result of his antigen rapid test kit (RTK) at KLIA on July 9 was negative.

"When he arrived in Kuching, he was immediately taken to a hotel for quarantine. A PCR sample taken on the second day tested positive for Covid-19.

"He has been admitted to the Sarawak General Hospital for treatment," the committee said.

It also said seven people were currently being treated in hospital while the number of recoveries remained at 552 or 95.67% of the total cases to date.