KUCHING: On whether Bintulu will tighten the standard operating procedures (SOPs) in response to the recent uptick of Covid-19 cases there, the authorities are still discussing the prevention measures and swab test procedures, said Bintulu MP Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing.
“Regarding Bintulu’s sudden increase of 34 confirmed Covid-19 cases on Aug 11, we have learnt that most of these cases were detected from the timber, transport, construction, and trade sectors. Some of these cases were detected from workers’ dormitories in the timber sector,” he said.
Noting that the official quarantine period now was 14 days, he said if the number of cases continued to rise, this may be increased to 21 days.
“By then, it will only be the bosses and employers who are working,” he said in a Facebook post today (Aug 13).
With regard to the tightening of SOPs, he said the main consideration was always the safety and health of the Bintulu people.
Referring to a recent interview he had with Sin Chew Daily, Tiong said he had stressed that the cases he had mentioned involved workers’ dormitories and offices, involving a large number of people.
“If companies do not implement strict compliance to measures to halt the spread of Covid-19, all the efforts that many others have worked so hard to achieve will be in vain.
“As the pandemic rages again, we still have businesses that are unconcerned and indifferent to the pandemic, which is expected to lead to Bintulu recording a three-digit number of cases in the near future,” he said.
He said once the government tightened the SOPs, it would be the business sector that would suffer.
On another matter, he urged the public not to treat being fully vaccinated as being totally immune to the virus.
He noted that many people continued to be misinformed that with the second dose of the vaccine, they would be immune or would not suffer any symptoms whatsoever.
“However, the truth is, while the vaccine reduces the symptoms, people can still potentially contract Covid-19 even after completing the second dose,” he said.
Tiong, who is also Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) president, pointed out that in the past few days, seven fully vaccinated lorry drivers in Bintulu had been diagnosed with Covid-19.
