271 close contacts to two positive Covid-19 illegal migrant workers screened

Silhouettes of workers on a construction site. — DayakDaily.com file pic. // Photo: Pixabay

KUCHING, Oct 16: A total of 271 workers have been screened for Covid-19 following two positive cases reported at the construction sites of Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) and Intan Sarawak old building yesterday (Oct 15).

State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC), in a statement today, informed that contact tracing operation is actively being conducted at the sites.

Of the number of workers who had undergone Covid-19 screening, 176 were workers at the construction site of SGH besides 81 contractor staff and 14 workers at the Intan Sarawak old building.

Meanwhile, the State Immigration Department with the help of various agencies had arrested 25 illegal migrant workers in an operation, which was immediately launched yesterday (Oct 15), following two positive cases involving illegal Indonesian workers at the sites.

SDMC revealed that of the arrests, 17 were workers at the construction site of SGH and eight were workers at the Intan Sarawak old building.

SDMC chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas had strongly condemned the actions of irresponsible parties who breached border security.

He emphasised that this issue was serious as those who entered the state illegally could have spread the virus within the community as they would have evaded mandatory quarantine and screening to ensure they were in good health.

Uggah, who is the Deputy Chief Minister, reiterated that screening and quarantine were two necessary measures to curb and contain Covid-19 in Sarawak.

He thus urged the public to become the eyes and ears of the government by reporting to relevant authorities like police and Immigration Department if they spotted any suspicious characters. —DayakDaily