Sibu Pasai cluster sparked by interstate traveller who quarantined at home
COVID-19 | The 2,363 cases detected among longhouse residents and healthcare workers in Sibu, Sarawak originated from an interstate traveller who underwent home quarantine.
Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah shared details about the Pasai Siong cluster in a press conference this evening.
The index case was someone who travelled from Johor to Sarawak due to the death of her father...
COVID-19 | The 2,363 cases detected among longhouse residents and healthcare workers in Sibu, Sarawak originated from an interstate traveller who underwent home quarantine.
Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah shared details about the Pasai Siong cluster in a press conference this evening.
The index case was someone who travelled from Johor to Sarawak due to the death of her father.
“The patient’s father died. She was from Johor and went home to a longhouse in Sarawak.
“The patient was supposed to be quarantined at a hotel but ended up being quarantined in the longhouse, and that’s where the infection happened,” he said.
46 healthcare workers were also infected after longhouse residents showed up for treatment.
“They (healthcare workers) thought the area was a green zone (with no cases) but when cases were detected, they also became infected,” the top official said.
It was previously reported that the index case had made her trip home on Dec 29. She tested negative when swabbed at Kuching airport but later tested positive on Jan 5 at a clinic.
The cluster resulted in an enhanced movement control order being imposed on eight longhouses in the rural area.
As of today, 668 cases remain active while five are in the intensive care unit. 18 people have died.
This evening, Noor Hisham reiterated his call for more testing in rural areas and among hard-to-reach communities to ensure outbreaks could be detected quickly.
Yesterday, Sarawak Minister of Local Government Dr Sim Kui Hian said that the Covid-19 strain detected among the Pasai cluster cases originated from Peninsular Malaysia or perhaps even the UK.
He questioned what the strain was and if it caused more patients to develop symptoms.
Noor Hisham said this evening that the ministry’s Institute of Medical Research (IMR) was studying the particular strain.
“It is highly possible that the mutation is an existing mutation like the D614G because the infections happened in a rural area that was not previously exposed to the virus,” he added.
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