He said that of the 20 deaths reported, 11 were recorded on Sept 17, four on Sept 18, two on Sept 15 and one death each on Sept 6, 7 and 16.

“The backlog or delay in reporting the death is because the hospital needs to conduct a post-mortem to ascertain whether it is caused by Covid-19 or not,” he told a press conference on the establishment of the Covid-19 public awareness working committee here today.

Meanwhile, Uggah said Sarawak was ramping up efforts to raise public awareness on Covid-19 ahead of the transition to the endemic phase, expected to be by the end of this year.

To realise the state government’s aspiration, he said the Covid-19 public awareness working committee led by the Sarawak public communications unit (UKAS) had been established.

The committee comprises representatives from agencies under the communications and multimedia ministry such as the Malaysian national news agency Bernama, RTM and the state information department.

In another development, he said Sarawak would receive its CanSino vaccine supplies tomorrow and on Wednesday before being distributed to reach interior areas where some Penan communities have yet to be vaccinated.