Uggah and Dr Sim (right) making their way to a SDMC daily press conference on Covid-19 in Kuching.
KUCHING: One year has passed today since Sarawak confirmed its first Covid-19 cases and though vaccines now offer hope for a return to normalcy, the war against the virus is far from over in the state.
Leading the charge is the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC), which is headed by Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah, and comprises cabinet members, medical experts and department heads, among others.
Given the breadth of the state and its demography, the war has been fraught with challenges for SDMC but in spite of the obstacles, criticisms and shortcomings, it has stayed the course with ‘Jaga Sarawak, Intu Sarawak’ as its battle cry.
Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian, a key member of SDMC, recalled that the committee held its first meeting on Jan 27 last year – a day after he alerted Uggah of a new virus.
“It was during his Chinese New Year open house visit that I told him of a new Severe Acute Respiratory (SAR) virus in China. We (SDMC) needed to meet as it had already reached Malaysia,” he told The Borneo Post.
Following the meeting, Dr Sim said the state imposed a ban on China nationals entering the state, much to the disappointment of the China Consulate.
“China Consulate protested. We explained it was not against China. Sarawak did not have the resources to cope with a big-scale SAR outbreak,” said Dr Sim, the state Housing and Local Government Minister.
But it was only a matter of time before the virus would enter Sarawak, and from much closer to home.
On March 13 last year, three individuals were confirmed to have contracted Coronavirus 2019. They were linked to the Sri Petaling Cluster, which resulted from a religious event in Kuala Lumpur.
Dr Sim said the cluster erupted when Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had resigned as prime minister and revealed that it was in fact, the Brunei Health Minister who alerted Sarawak about the virus.
“He called to inform that Covid-19 had entered Brunei from Kuala Lumpur through Miri. We informed the Ministry of Health and they carried out contact tracing.”
After the pandemic started in Sarawak, SDMC had managed to control the outbreak with its standard operating procedures (SOP), which would often differ from those laid out by the federal government due to local conditions.
The state had had little victories in that there were days where no new cases were announced by SDMC in its daily Covid-19 updates.
However, in January this year, the pandemic took a turn for the worse, with Sarawak now recording cases in triple digits almost daily. The number of cases reached a high on Feb 24 with 353 cases.
Yesterday alone, the state recorded 173 cases which brought its cumulative number of cases to 12,051. The death toll from the virus in Sarawak is 89.
The number of cases had exploded following the detection of the Pasai Cluster in Sibu on
Jan 9. The index case in the cluster had returned from Johor and was allowed to undergo home quarantine in her longhouse where a funeral was being held.
Following the outbreak, SDMC disallowed home quarantine for Sarawakians returning from outside the state.
Three days after the Pasai Cluster was announced, Uggah apologised at a press conference as Kuching, Miri and Sibu had turned into Covid-19 Red zones.
“So we apologise to the communities in Sarawak, and we hope whatever mistakes we made could be corrected to make sure the spread (of Covid-19) would be stopped,” he said.
The Health Ministry categorises districts with no cases as Green zones, while those with one to 20 cases over a two-week period as Yellow zones, 21 to 40 cases as Orange zones, and 41 and above as Red zones.
Dr Sim recalled that he had warned in January that the most dangerous time for Sarawak would be now due to the surge in cases, adding that the virus could mutate and could become resistant to treatment.
“With vaccines, we may win the battle, but the war with Covid-19 is far from over. After Covid-19, live would never be able to return back to normal again,” he said.
Dr Sim said the virus had brought unprecedented disruption in all aspects of life and society.
“Covid-19 shows that though we are not born equal, but we are created equal. Covid-19 doesn’t care about sex, race, religion, nationality, rich or poor, individual or country, but it has accentuated and laid bare the disparity of societies and nations.”
In pointing out that 2.6 million lives had been lost around the world due to the pandemic, Dr Sim said the pandemic had forced people to adapt to new norms and live by SOP.
He added that the state and federal governments were doing its utmost in helping the people cope with the current challenges with the introduction of aid packages and other forms of economic relief.
In Sarawak, the state government had implemented five Bantuan Khas Sarawakku Sayang (BKSS) aid packages amounting to some RM3 billion.
Dr Sim said Sarawakians should, therefore, do their part and stand in solidarity in order to win the war against Covid-19.
He said that while the virus had exposed the ugly side of society, it had also shone a light on human ingenuity and compassion in people.
“Covid-19 brings out ugly side of mankind like vaccine nationalism, infodemic such as fake news, but (it) also (brings out) beautiful humanity, spirit of global solidarity such as sharing of medical knowledge, development of vaccines, dedication and sacrifices of the frontliners beyond their call of duty,” he said.