COVID cases in Sarawak up by 224 pct this month

KUCHING: The number of COVID-19 infections in Sarawak rose sharply this month to record 35,517 new cases, an increase of 224 per cent compared to July, said state Health director Datuk Dr Mohamed Sapian Mohamed.

He said the presence of the Delta variant with a high infectivity rate was the main cause of the spike in COVID-19 cases in the state, particularly in the Southern Zone which comprised the Kuching, Bau, Lundu, Samarahan, Asajaya, Simunjan, Serian and Tebedu districts.

"To date, the Delta variant has been detected in 10 divisions in Sarawak while the detection rate of the variant in Kuching division is as high as 99 per cent," he said in a statement today.

Although the immunisation rate in Sarawak has reached 90.9 per cent for the first dose and 87.9 per cent for the second dose as of Aug 28, about 30 per cent of the daily cases comprised individuals below 18 years old who are not yet eligible to receive the vaccine.

"The usage of beds for critical cases throughout Sarawak has shown an increase this month but it is still at a manageable level in hospitals," he said.

Meanwhile, Dr Mohamed Sapian said a total of 10 public COVID-19 Low-Risk Quarantine and Treatment Centres (PKRC), including four new ones, will be opened if the number of cases continued to spike.

"If the number of cases remains high and increasing every day, the available manpower and health services may be paralysed. This will result in intervention actions such as patient isolation and contact detection to be severely affected," he said.

Currently, a total of 45 PKRCs have been opened throughout Sarawak which consists of 41 public PKRCs with a capacity of 7,465 beds and four PKRCs for detainees with a total of 1,072 beds.

-- BERNAMA