Lee (front, right) leads the inspection team to check the facilities provided at the quarantine centre.
MIRI: The Petronas Sports Village here has been turned into a quarantine facility to house persons-under-investigation (PUIs), who are being monitored pending the results of their Covid-19 testing.
According to Transport Minister Datuk Lee Kim Shin, such facility serves to accommodate the needs of PUIs, based on the medical protocol in which they have to undergo the necessary tests following reports from Miri Hospital.
It is reported that there are 15 suspected Covid-19 cases still under investigation here.
Under the health protocol, the PUIs are required to undergo two tests.
If the first screening is found to be negative, they would be sent home to undergo self-quarantine for 14 days; they would undergo the second test on the 13th day.
“The Petronas Sports Village was selected by the State Disaster Management Committee (JPBN) as the quarantine centre here. I have contacted Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, who is also the JPBN chairman, about this matter.
“We open the quarantine centre here because some of the PUIs are from Peninsular Malaysia; they do not have homes here for the self-quarantine,” said Lee during a press conference here yesterday.
The minister said he had asked Telekom Malaysia (TM) to install Wi-Fi and also televisions at the sports village so that those undergoing quarantine would be able to use the free coverage to be in constant contact with their families, or to watch news and updates about the situation.
“They must stay inside their rooms throughout the quarantine period.”
Lee said the persons-under-surveillance (PUS), who tested negative for Covid-19 during their first screening, would be put under 14-day quarantine at the Petronas Sports Village.
It is informed that the first group of five individuals was admitted to the quarantine facility yesterday.
“We are taking all the necessary precautionary measures very seriously and we would like to assure the public in Miri that we are doing our very best to control the Covid-19 situation – this is why we are setting up this quarantine centre here,” stressed Lee.
He added that various agencies had been mobilised to facilitate the process at the quarantine centre – they included the police, Health Department, Welfare Department, Resident and District offices, Civil Defence Force, Miri City Council and TM.
In a related development,
six close contacts who boarded the same flight with the first positive Covid-19 case in Brunei, tested negative for the virus, said Lee in confirming the test report received from the Health Department.
“All six of them are Mirians.
“The Health Department has also informed that four other close contacts on board the same flight have been identified as coming from Peninsular Malaysia. The department there has conducted screening tests on the four.”
Meanwhile, Lee called upon all Mirians to not panic amidst all the news about Covid-19.
Adding on, he advised them to obtain official information only from JPBN Sarawak.
“Do not believe in everything being posted on social media – always refer to the official information because our JPBN releases information every now and update it for the public.
“So, don’t create rumours, don’t listen to rumours, and don’t panic,” he reiterated.