KUCHING, Jan 10 — Kuching and Sibu districts have been declared Covid-19 red zones after surpassing 40 active cases, state Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) said today.

It said Kuching district now has a total of 41 and while the Sibu district has 44 positive cases registered within the 14-day period.

In a statement, SDMC said the districts of Selangau and Sebauh have turned yellow from the green after each registering one local transmission.

However, the committee said the districts of Samarahan, Miri, Bintulu, Meradong, Bukit Mabong dan Sri Aman remained as the yellow zones and the status of 30 other districts remain green.

The SDMC said Sarawak registered 24 positive cases today, with seven in Kuching district, Miri (5), Sibu (5), Sri Aman (2), Bintulu (1), Samarahan (1), Sebauh (1), Selangau (1) and Serian (1).

The latest figures bring the total number of positive cases in Sarawak to 1,275.

The SDMC said two of the seven cases reported in Kuching district are imported transmission.

They arrived from Kuala Lumpur International Airport on January 8, then brought to the quarantine centre where they were swabbed for Covid-19.

The outcome of the swab showed they were positive for Covid-19.

The SDMC said the other five cases were local transmissions.

It said three of the five cases in Sibu are related to the Pasai Siong cluster, having close contact with a positive case.

It said they were screened for Covid-19 on January 7 and 8 and were found to be positive yesterday.

The SDMC said the Sibu Health Department is still investigating the sources of contacts for the other two local transmissions.

The two are being treated at the Sibu Hospital.

The SDMC said two cases, a couple, reported in Simanggang and a housewife from Sebauh have a history of visiting Pasai Siong where they were infected with the virus.