KUCHING: Although the state has been put under the movement control order (MCO) for the past few weeks, the ever growing number of Covid-19 cases has made the public concerned about its effectiveness.
The implementation of MCO should have decreased the number of cases statewide.
However, a lot of new cases, new clusters, as well as new locations being put under enhanced movement control order (EMCO) have been declared of late by the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC).
In light of rising concerns, New Sarawak Tribune met with members of the public to hear their views on this matter.
Leandro Mcrae, 25, said that Covid-19 is a known deadly virus but it can be controlled by simply following standard operating procedures (SOPs) set by the SDMC.
“However, it seems that this was only applicable during the first and second wave where we saw the number of cases decrease but not anymore in current times.
“Therefore, I request the public to alter their social behavior by strictly following the SOP so that our health system is not overburdened or the economic development affected,” said the admin executive.
He added that the people have the power to save precious lives including their dear ones by taking preventive measures and giving their full cooperation in adhering to the SOPs.
“Wear a mask, maintain social distancing, wash hands with soap frequently and avoid crowded places.
“The public needs to remember that we are a strong state and can defeat Covid-19 but for that to be achieved, cooperation from everyone is imperative.
“If we continue to practise all SOPs, I can assure that we will be able to counter the third wave of Covid-19 just as successfully as we managed with the first two waves,” he stressed.
Meanwhile, 25-year-old Claudia Gura Foster, commented that the daily number of cases remaining in the hundreds despite the MCO is worrisome.
“We really need to follow the SOPs strictly in order to decrease the daily number of positive cases.
“Self-discipline and strict compliance with all SOP are very crucial at this stage to enable us to break the chain of infection in the community,” said the admin clerk.
She noted that the people were resolute before and followed all the SOPs during the first MCO in March last year.
“During that time, the cases in the state were not as serious as they are now and we managed to flatten the curve easily.
“Having said that, if we could flatten it before, we are certainly able to do so now when the stakes are so much higher. I hope that the people realise this and start adhering to the SOPs strictly so that we can turn to normalcy,” she expressed.
However, Jenny Huan, 25, opined that the failure in implementing total lockdown similar to the one during the first MCO is one of the factors why the number of cases do not decrease.
“In addition, the current MCO caused more people and businesses (including small and medium-sized enterprises) to have a hard time sustaining their livelihood,” she said.
The human resource worker suggested that the state government implement a total lockdown for a short period of time rather than a long National Recovery Plan (NRP) with phases.
“With this, it will help ease the number of cases in the state. Furthermore, the government should also totally ban any social event or public gathering such as funerals, festive season gatherings even if they are under certain conditions or SOPs.
“This is because there are many clusters rooted through these kinds of events,” she said.
She also urged the public to do their part, practise SOP at all times as well as educate the people around them and the elderly about the importance of SOPs.
“Moreover, the public should also encourage each other to get themselves vaccinated as the government has given more than enough effort in finding ways to curb the Covid-19 pandemic,” Huan reminded.
