KUCHING: People should be alarmed by the current high number of Covid-19 cases in the state, so that everyone can change their behaviours and practices.
Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian said this in a Facebook post on Thursday (Aug 12) in reference to the 1,216 new positive Covid-19 cases registered in the state on the same day, a new record high for Sarawak to date.
“Two steps forward and one step back,” said the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee advisor.
He pointed out that the Greater Kuching area accounted for 85 per cent of cases in Sarawak, adding that this was very typical of the Delta variant in local community transmissions, with more infections as well as faster, earlier, and especially pre-symptomatic transmissions.
“Sarawak is back in late containment stage again as a result of scaling up in vaccinations in June before the Delta variant arrived in July, unlike Greater Kuala Lumpur in mitigation stage (their scaling up of vaccinations happened after the Delta variant arrived) with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing only for those who are symptomatic.”
Dr Sim stressed that Sarawak should continue to conduct PCR tests on as many as possible, noting that early detection and early treatment saved lives.
“Of course, with no PCR testing, the numbers will definitely come down. Rather have high numbers now so that everyone of us can do something, play our role and do our part, rather than not testing enough and being blissfully ignorant, which eventually may create a situation where sheer numbers lead to increased deaths and BID (Brought-In Dead) cases.”
In an earlier post the same day, he highlighted the need to still be on high alert, as it had been shown that people can be infected by Covid-19 and spread the virus even after receiving two doses of the vaccine.
He said if the public did not continue to practise non-pharmaceutical interventions, including adhering to the standard operating procedures, use of face masks, and physical distancing, transmissions would not be able to be slowed down and the sheer numbers would be a tremendous pressure on the healthcare system.
Dr Sim also urged the public to be wary of fake news and misinformation being spread and viralled on social media platforms and WhatsApp.
