Uggah: Not too late for Sarawak to crush Covid-19 pandemic

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File photo for illustration purposes

KUCHING (Jan 18): It is not too late for Sarawak to continue to crush and fight the Covid-19 pandemic, said State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas.

He said though the number of Covid-19 cases in Sarawak had been increasing of late, there was no reason why the state could not break the chain of Covid-19 infection and return to the days when most of its districts were green zones.

“From Nov 25 last year to Jan 7, Sarawak had for a total of 43 days managed to maintain many of its districts as green zones with only a few classified as yellow zones.

“At one time, Sarawak was even referred to as a model state in curbing the spread of the Covid-19 epidemic,” he told a press conference today.

He said however, since Jan 8 until now, the number of Covid-19 positive cases in the state have been increasing, the highest of which was recorded on Jan 14 with 180 cases.

As such, this had led to four districts classified as red zones, one orange zone and 16 yellow zones while only 19 districts remain as green zones, he said.

“In the last ten days, we seem to have lost sight of the danger of Covid-19. We noticed that a lot of activities taken part especially during Christmas, New Year’s Day and various other events, and it seems that we have become too confident and this is what had led us to our situation today,” he added.

The Deputy Chief Minister pointed out that SDMC had since enforced the Movement Control Order (MCO) in Sibu division and Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) in other parts of the state to curb the spread of the infectious disease particularly in rural areas.

He also appealed to the people to constantly take precaution and advise them to abide by the MCO and CMCO standard operating procedures (SOP) that have been issued.

“As I’ve mentioned earlier, our success in the pass was due to the cooperation and sacrifice of everyone in terms of economic activity and their social lives.

“We have been able to practice the new normal and I hope this can be maintained. Please do not be complacent because Covid-19 does not discriminate.

“Only we Sarawakians at all levels can prevent this disease from spreading and to do that, we must observe the SOP, be discipline and make a little bit of sacrifice. The sooner this is over, the earlier we can enjoy and go back to normal,” he said.

He also advised parents and students who are returning to school in January to follow the SOP set by the government.

“We hope that the Education Department can issue clear SOP so that parents and students can understand them.

“We also hope that teachers at schools can enforce a tighter SOP to ensure that all SOP such as wearing of face masks, social distancing and no large gathering will be strictly followed to break the chain of Covid-19,” he said.

He stressed that the state government under Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg remains committed to ensure that what is necessary to tackle the disease is carried out.

“We provide hotels for quarantine; manpower to manage the quarantine centres; reduce flights from Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Labuan; and make sure we have enough manpower to watch our border so that the import cases are minimized.

“We are trying our very best and now all it takes is for the people themselves to contribute and make sure this war can be won.

“I am confident that with the ‘Agi Idup Agi Ngelaban’ spirit, the curve of Covid-19 in Sarawak can be flatten,” he said.

Also present at the press conference was State Health director Dr Chin Zin Hing.