[ad_1]
KUCHING: Sarawak today recorded a new positive case of Covid-19 involving a student who returned from East Java, Indonesia.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said the initial test on the student was negative for the virus, and then he was placed under surveillance (PUS) quarantine at the Pullman Hotel here.
Uggah said that after completing his 14-day PUS quarantine and that his latest test was still negative for the virus, the student was allowed to return to his hometown in Sibu to undergo 14 days of quarantine at home.
However, he had a positive result during the quarantine of his home and was admitted to the Sibu Hospital today for treatment.
“Before being released from his home quarantine, he was first tested. But after that test it was found to be positive (from Covid-19).
“I am not a doctor and I cannot discuss this issue, but it seems that (his incubation period) is more than 14 days,” Uggah explained.
When asked if this would be a troubling trend in which the student might have infected people throughout his journey back to Sibu, Uggah said the virus is still new and many things are still unknown.
“This is a new phenomenon and this new experience will help us formulate new policies (to deal with these types of cases). As in Betong, we have two cases of relapse in the hospital. Tested twice, negative. Then, after returning for a new quarantine at home, they then retested after a while and found that they both had a (positive) relapse.
“So this is also something new that we are learning, and with that we hope to be able to develop certain policies to avoid such circumstances,” he said.
When asked when SDMC will be able to develop a policy to deal with the relapse of more than 14 days of incubation, Uggah said that the formulation of policies to combat the pandemic is ongoing all the time and that they would need the advice of medical experts on the best way to handle this situation.
“Because the basic principle is to try to avoid the chain of infection in society. Then we must pray. Now we are waiting for the experts to advise us, ”he said.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Local Government and Housing, Dato Sri Sim Kui Hian, explained that due to such a case, the policy for Sarawak was to place the PUS under domestic quarantine, even after having completed its 14-day quarantine in hotels despite of showing negative results.
“One case I read, the incubation period was up to 27 days. We at Sarawak cannot quarantine all who return from outside for 27 days. We would need thousands upon thousands of hotel rooms for that, and there would not be enough to accommodate all the PUSs, ”he said.
As such, he said, SDMC came up with a policy that everyone should wear face masks at all times when they are outside, even if they are healthy.
“Covid-19 is only six months old. Therefore, the policy will always change and will be updated. We need to see the trend of cases like this (positive Sibu) first before we can make a policy decision, ”added Dr. Sim.
Meanwhile, 16 cases have been recovered and discharged in the state today, where 14 are from Sarawak General Hospital and two from Sibu Hospital.
Sarawak registered 137 active cases today, with one being treated in SGH’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
A total of 45 new PUS have been registered today, bringing the total number of PUS cases in hotels throughout the state to quarantine at 3,609 as of today.
[ad_2]
