Adenovirus scare at Pulapol in Kuching just rumours

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SAVING LIVES: (From left) Ishak, Bernas corporate communication executive Sahrein Maloh and Mohd Rosli chat with a GOF officer donating blood.

KUCHING: No Adenovirus case has been reported at the Police Training Centre (Pulapol) at Jalan Puncak Borneo near here.

General Operation Force (GOF) Battalion 11’s assistant commanding officer DSP Ishak Baharum said the situation at
all police camps and headquarters here were calm despite the scare that hit Kuala Lumpur Pulapol on March 4.

“All that has been circulating regarding the virus being contracted from here are just rumours. To date, there are no cases of anybody being infected. Nevertheless, we are taking precautionary measures to ensure that the same incident would not happen here,” Ishak said when met at a blood donation drive at GOF Sarawak Brigade camp at Batu Kawah, near here yesterday. Ishak was representing GOF Sarawak Brigade deputy commander ACP Mohd Rosli Mat Junus.

The blood donation campaign was organised by Padiberas Nasional Bhd (Bernas), GOF and the police force in collaboration with the Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) blood bank.

As this type of virus is spread by mosquitoes, he said fogging activities are conducted at least twice a year at all GOF and police camps to curb all mosquito-related diseases.

Ishak advised the public not to spread such rumours in order not to cause panic among the community.

He added that the situation in Kuala Lumpur was under control. According to a Bernama report on March 21, death toll from the ‘Adenovirus’, which was first detected at Kuala Lumpur Pulapol on March 4, was two.

In a March 13 report, Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said that one of the victims, trainee Inspector Mohd Redzuan Ishak, died due to severe community-acquired pneumonia and organ failures due to the Adenovirus.

At the height of the virus outbreak, a total of 195 cases were reported and 667 trainees were quarantined at Pulapol’s isolation centre.

The numbers has since declined drastically.

Meanwhile, the blood donation drive held at the camp’s multipurpose hall saw participation from 70 GOF and public personnel.

“We anticipated a much higher involvement but unfortunately many were caught up with work due to sudden projects that cropped up. However, this blood donation campaign is something that GOF do annually in conjunction with the Police Memorial Day,” said Ishak.

Bernas corporate communication executive Sahrein Maloh, who was also present, told the media that the company’s involvement with blood donation campaigns formed part of its corporate social responsibility programme.

“Today marks Bernas’ first collaboration with GOF and the police force. SGH called for more blood donation and it is important to response to the call.

“Apart from blood donation campaigns, we are also involved in donations to fire victims, charitable programmes and non-governmental organisations.”

At the event, Bernas donated about 100 bags of rice, weighing 5kg each, which were handed out to the blood donors as a token of appreciation.

Also present yesterday was Chief Inspector Abdul Hanif Ghani of Squadron 11 Armours Unit.