“We are trying to get as much information as possible (from contact tracing) and hope to identify the source of these transmissions soon,” said state health director Dr Chin Zin Hing here today.

Sarawak recorded 25 positive cases today, the third highest number of cases reported in a single day in the state.

All except four cases were local transmissions.

Sarawak disaster management committee chairman Douglas Uggah Embas said most of the cases previously reported in the state were imported.

He said there had been cases of people travelling from overseas to Sarawak testing negative for the virus while they were on transit at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

“However, they tested positive after the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests were done on them upon their arrival in Sarawak,” he said, adding that Kuching has now been declared a red zone.

Uggah also said the state government had intensified security along the Sarawak-Kalimantan border to prevent illegal immigrants from entering through illegal crossings and spreading the virus among the people.

To date, 675 positive cases have been reported in Sarawak. The total number of deaths remains at 19.

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