COVID-19: Sarawak detects 76 more Delta variant cases

KUCHING: Another 76 COVID-19 cases of the Delta variant have been detected in Sarawak, the Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) Institute of Health and Community Medicine (IHCM) said today.

IHCM director, Prof Dr David Perera, said the cases were detected via ongoing tracking and surveillance of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants circulating in the state.

"Samples from positive cases were tested between June 7 and July 13, with the majority of the cases (52 cases) detected in Kuching," he said in his latest report to Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman, Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, here today.

Dr Perera said the Delta cases were found via testing of samples from Hospital Sentosa, Satok police station and various other locations in Kuching, while 11 cases were detected in Serian, five in Sri Aman, three in Samarahan and one each in Sibu, Miri and Betong.

"We also detected a case each under the 'Import A' (individual coming from overseas) and 'Import B' (individual coming from other parts of Malaysia) categories," he said.

There are now a total 93 cases of the Delta variant in Sarawak since it was first detected on June 18 this year.

-- BERNAMA