By Antonia Chiam
KUCHING — State Health director Datuk Dr Mohamed Sapian Mohamed has warned that the Covid-19 pandemic in Sarawak could get worse should Sarawakians fail to do their part in stopping the spread of the virus.
In a statement yesterday, he pointed out that yesterday’s 1,566 new Covid-19 cases were the highest to be reported in Sarawak since the pandemic began in March 2020.
There was also one death reported in Serian involving an unvaccinated individual with comorbidities, who was confirmed positive on Aug 5.
Dr Mohamed Sapian appealed to the people not to organise or participate in any social gatherings, events, or celebrations at this time as infected individuals, either asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic, may be present.
“The people of Sarawak must never be complacent and must remain vigilant. If the public are still stubborn and do not comply with the SOPs, chances are the situation will get worse. We can all change this situation. Love yourself, our family, and our friends. Together we break the chain of Covid-19 infection,” he stressed.
He pointed out that the spread of infection among the many active Covid-19 clusters in the state could be attributed to social gatherings and family reunions, as well as the failure to comply with standard operating procedures (SOPs) in the workplace and institutions.
He said to date there are 45 active clusters in Kuching District, four in Bau District, and five in Lundu District.
“Of these, there are 40 community clusters, 10 workplace clusters, one cluster involving a funeral ceremony, one senior care centre cluster, one institutional cluster (kindergarten), and one police station cluster,” he said in a statement yesterday.
Dr Mohamed Sapian stressed that the methods to prevent Covid-19 infection remained unchanged regardless of Covid-19 variant.
“The public are urged once again to stay at home if there are no important matters. If they have to be in a public place, always make sure face masks are worn and social distancing is practiced as well as adhere to the existing SOPs.
“For those who work, if you are not healthy, do not go down to work. If experiencing symptoms such as fever, cough, sore throat, difficulty in breathing, or experience lethargy, body aches, diarrhoea, and vomiting without an identifiable cause, immediately seek screening and treatment at the nearest health facility even if the symptoms are mild and not severe,” he said.
Although these preventive measures are seemingly simple, he said they are still very effective in curbing the spread of Covid-19.
He also pointed out that 1,144 or 73 per cent of the new Covid-19 cases reported yesterday (Aug 16) were in Kuching Division — Kuching District (731), Bau District (238), and Lundu District (175).
Serian District reported 84 or 5.4 per cent of the new cases and Samarahan District reported 44 or 2.8 per cent of the new cases.
To date, 21 localities in Kuching Division have been placed under the Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO) — 16 in Kuching District, four in Lundu District, and one in Bau District.
The EMCO localities affect 21,293 people, with 1,150 positive cases reported, while 4,191 individuals are still awaiting results.
