Covid-19: CMCO in Sarawak extended to March 29

KUCHING: The conditional movement control order in Sarawak will be extended for a further two weeks from March 16 to 29, Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said.

He said at the state disaster management committee briefing here on Friday (March 12) that the decision was made because the number of positive cases in the state was still high.

With 173 new cases reported on Friday, the state's tally now stands at 12,051.

In other Covid-19-related developments, Uggah said an outbreak among family members in Sri Aman led to a new cluster involving a secondary school.

He said the Jalan Main Bazaar cluster was one of three new community clusters identified in the state on Friday.

The index case was a 52-year-old woman who tested positive during pre-operative screening at the Sarawak General Hospital here on March 1.

The cluster has 12 confirmed cases to date, comprising 10 family members and two schoolmates of a close contact.

"All close contacts who have been identified have been admitted to a quarantine centre for screening and isolation.

"Active tracing of other contacts is still being carried out," Uggah added.

He said another outbreak, dubbed the Buluh Pasi cluster, involved a longhouse at Sungai Buluh, Jalan Pasi, in Meradong district, with 21 confirmed cases to date.

"The index case works in Sibu and tested positive on Feb 20. The infection was believed to have spread among the cases in this cluster due to close community interaction in the same longhouse," he said.

The Sena cluster in Miri, meanwhile, involves close contacts of the index case at Lorong Sena in Desa Senadin and two longhouses in Subis district.

To date, the cluster has 61 confirmed cases including the index case, a 47-year-old woman who tested positive on Feb 24.