Lee Kim Shin
MIRI (Jan 8): A total of 216 individuals have taken the RT-PCR Covid-19 swab test in connection with the ‘Bah Sayap’ Cluster in Miri, with 153 reported as negative while another 63 are pending results.
This was disclosed by the minister in-charge of the Miri Division Disaster Management Committee (MDMC) Datuk Lee Kim Shin in a press statement today.
He said that the committee had been receiving a lot of public enquiries on the ‘Bah Sayap’ Cluster, especially regarding positive cases and actions that had been taken.
“In view of this, on behalf of Miri Division Disaster Management Committee, I would like to explain the standard operating procedure (SOP) whenever there is a positive Covid-19 case detected.
“The Health Department will immediately perform case investigation and contact tracing which is a key strategy for preventing further spread of Covid-19. Case investigation and contact tracing is a specialised skill performed by trained Public Health Inspectors and Public Health Doctors.
“They work closely with a patient to help them recall everyone with whom they have had close contact especially during the infectious period and could transmit the disease,” he disclosed.
He added that through this process, family, household, workplace and social close contacts would be identified, quarantined at respective homes and arranged swab for RT-PCR Covid-19 test in accordance to Ministry of Health Malaysia protocols.
“Close contacts are generally defined as persons who had contact with a confirmed case with or without wearing a mask less than one-metre distance and more than 15 minutes of duration.
“In the event there are airline passenger contacts, the passengers seated two-rows in front and back plus the adjacent rows will be identified, quarantined at respective homes and arranged for RT-PCR Covid-19 swab test.
“The passenger details are obtained from the flight passenger manifest given by the respective airlines to the Health Department,” explained Lee who is also the Minister of Transports.
Meanwhile, he said the Health Department will also perform Active Case Detections (ACD) in view of the local Covid-19 cases that were detected in Miri. ACD refers to the Health Department reaching out to the community and systematically screening the population to find cases.
“Targeted screening method will be employed focusing around the neighbourhood and workplace areas of a reported positive case. All these strategies outlined above are being employed concurrently and still on-going since the ‘Bah Sayap’ Cluster was detected in Miri District,” he pointed out.
The Sarawak State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) has also released the names of premises that the positive cases had visited. All the said commercial premises have been required to perform daily sanitation or cleaning of their premises as part of their daily operating procedure, in accordance to the Ministry of Local Government and Housing SOP.
“Hence with these preventive measures in place, the risk of Covid-19 transmission will be low. The strategy to release the name of the premises and their exact date and specific time was done to empower the general public to perform self-assessment and remind them continuously to practice Covid-19 preventive measures.
“The general public can also check in their respective telephone using the MySejahtera app under the ‘History’ option to cross reference the premises they visited and verify whether it matched to the list of premises, exact date and specific time published,” he advised.
In the event, any individual was present at the said premises after checking in their MySejahtera app and there were lapses in the Covid-19 preventive measures ( did not wear 3-ply mask, did not practice social distancing and did not practice self-hygiene), the said person can go to Miri Indoor Stadium between 8.30am to 11.30am (Monday-Sunday) and report to Health Inspectors stationed there.
The Health Inspector will verify the information by checking the individual’s MySejahtera app and perform interviews to assess their exposure risk.
“If the exposure risk is found to be significant, swab for RT-PCR Covid-19 will be taken at the Miri Indoor Stadium. If the premises, their exact date and specific time does not match or if the exposure risk is deemed as low, the person will be advised to monitor the symptoms and practice Covid-19 preventive measures such as wearing 3-ply mask, ensuring social distancing and practice self-hygiene.
“MDMC would like to remind the public to be vigilant and continue practice avoidance of 3C (crowded, confined and close conversation) and adopt 3W (wash, wear and warn) strategies as advocated by the Ministry of Health Malaysia,” he concluded.