Health Department staff members oversee the final preparations for the Covid-19 quarantine centre in Penampang, Sabah. Bernama File Photo
KUCHING (Nov 28): Local Government and Housing Minister Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian has attributed Sarawak’s success in fighting the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic to the cooperation and commitment of every Sarawakian.
Dr Sim, who is also advisor to Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC), said Sarawakians had done their part to curb the spread of Covid-19 in the state.
“During this third wave, we are successful because every Sarawakian is playing their role so as to enable us to bring the number (of infections) down,” he said when witnessing the handover of RM40,000 from OCBC Bank Kuching Branch to Kidney Association of Sarawak (KAS) and Rotary Club of Kuching (RCK) during a ceremony held at the KAS-National Kidney Foundation (NKF) Dialysis Centre at Jalan Tun Ahmad Zaidi Adruce here today.
According to Dr Sim, the situation in Sabah has become “almost unmanageable” with the health facilities and personnel there strained to the limits in their attempt to stem the number of infections.
He said a Sarawakian, who is married to a Sabahan, recently contacted him to seek his help and advice as to what she should do about her case.
“She has been tested positive for a few days and she has experienced a loss of taste and dry eyes, and she has called the hospital for help but hasn’t heard back from the hospital.
“In Sabah, there are too many cases. We don’t want this to happen in Sarawak,” he added.
“More than 3,000 people are being quarantined at the respective quarantine centres for 14 days,” he revealed.
He said the state government is spending about RM150 per day per quarantined person, and this added up to about RM450,000 a day.