KUCHING, Sept 12: The state health department aggressive approach in its contact tracing of cases have led to the high number of cases reported.
Its director Datuk Dr Mohamed Sapian Mohamed said the active tracing were conducted in localities with active clusters, proving that the virus are widely spread in the community.
He pointed out that the high number of samples have overwhelmed the capacity of the available laboratories in the state and thus extend the period of the time required to obtain results (turn-around-time) although outsourcing has been implemented.
“This resulted in many samples being overdue for up to five days,” he said in a statement.
The state today reported 5,291 new infections, the highest in daily cases
However, most of the cases or 99.9% of the cases were at Category 1 (no symptoms) and Category 2 (mild Symptoms).
Dr Sapian said his department will continues to monitor the situation of Covid-19 in Sarawak, adding that a new measures is underway based to the current Covid-19 situation in the state.
He added that the use of Rapid Test Kit (RTK) Antigen will be used widely throughout Sarawak to identify positive Covid-19 cases faster so that actions can be taken immediately.
“Strategic planning mitigation is being drafted and a detailed strategy will be announced in the near future after discussion with the State Disaster Management Committee and Ministry of Health Malaysia,” he said.
Therefore, Dr Sapian said all contacts are at risk has been given a Home Surveillance Order (HSO) to prevent the spread of community.
