Fatimah (centre) speaking at the press conference. With her are Rosey (right) and Harden.
KUCHING: The people of Sarawak must be on their toes with the current Covid-19 situation in the state and should not be complacent even if the number of cases are low, said Welfare, Community Well-Being, Women, Family and Childhood Development Minister Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah.
She cited the Baki Cluster as an example where 25 positive cases have been detected thus far, resulting in Kampung Haji Baki being hit with the Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO), which is slated to start at midnight tonight.
“We have to take heed from what has happened there.
“This (Kampung Haji Baki) may be only one area but if we do not take heed from what has happened, the disease can spread to other villages,” she told a press conference at Baitulmakmur Building II here today.
More than 530 households involving over 4,200 residents will be affected by the EMCO that will come into force at Kampung Haji Baki here from 12 midnight to 11.59pm on Nov 10.
Fatimah said there is concern that people in Sarawak or the country for that matter, were experiencing ‘Covid-19 fatigue.’
“We have been going through the Covid-19 situation since March this year and for the past few months, we have to practice what we call the ‘new normal.’
“But when this happens for an extended amount of time, there is a risk that our people will show ‘Covid-19 fatigue’ where we feel like we want to get out of this situation we are facing,” she explained.
She pointed out that this had led some people to forget to practice the standard operating procedures (SOP) as a general practice to curb the spread of Covid-19.
“This is what we are concerned about because we must not forget that we have not won the war against Covid-19 so long as we do not have the vaccine.
“We need to make sure that we constantly adhere to the SOPs of social distancing, wearing of face masks, practicing personal hygiene and do not hold or attend large gatherings,” she stressed.
She empathised with what many people were feeling right now as they could no longer do things such as greeting people with handshakes.
“When we meet people, we tend to want to greet them by shaking hands but now it is different for we can no longer do that.
“Let us sacrifice for now and hopefully, a vaccine can be found soon and from our constant practice of the SOP, we can break the chain of infection,” she said.
Also present at the press conference were Assistant Ministers of Welfare, Community Well-Being, Women, Family and Childhood Development Datuk Rosey Yunus and Datuk Francis Harden Hollis.