By Karen Bong
BINTULU, May 5: A one-month old baby and a few 7-year-old children are among 27 new Covid-19 cases confirmed in Bintulu today.
Bintulu MP Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing, who revealed this after receiving the report from the Ministry of Health (MOH), has expressed great concern of the signs of the growing number of cases in longhouses when urban cases appear to have decreased.
“The data suggests that there is a risk of worsening situations in longhouse areas.
“One of the reasons for the occurrence of clusters in these longhouses is due to the frequent entries and exits by residents and outsiders, including those who work in the urban areas returning during their breaks,” he said in his Facebook post today.
Infected non-locals, he added, are also spreading the infections among the longhouse community undetected, which made it very difficult to conduct contact tracing on the population and contain further spread of infections.
“(As such) We will be holding discussions with the residents association on this matter to seek their cooperation and re-implementing the ban on visitors and relatives from outside the district to return to the affected longhouses.
“These SOPs (standard operating procedures) include refraining from visiting each other during the Gawai festive season,” he emphasised.
Noting that communications between parties have much room for improvement, Tiong who is also Prime Minister’s Special Envoy to the People’s Republic of China, pointed out that people from outside Bintulu District must avoid returning to Bintulu unnecessarily during this critical period.
“Instead, use social media tools to send greetings to each other. Everyone should celebrate the festive season without moving about from their homes.
“Everyone must remember that the holiday season is important but the value of our lives is far greater,” he reminded.
While he understood that the Covid-19 pandemic fatigue is setting in as people are tired and affected by it in various degree, Tiong continued to reiterate his appealed to fellow Bintulu residents to dedicate themselves to protect their homeland for the long-term.
“Do not put your personal convenience above the safety of the community. We can only eradicate the coronavirus by strictly complying with the SOPs,” he advised. — DayakDaily
