KUCHING, Dec 27: Bintulu MP Dato Sri Tiong King Sing emphasised that all people placed in quarantine, especially those returning from abroad, must not be issued a release order before their Covid-19 swab test results were released even if they exceeded the quarantine period.
This follows two confirmed cases of the Omicron Covid-19 variant in Bintulu. One case involved a student returning from the UK who was released from the quarantine centre before the Covid-19 swab test results were made known and met up with other people to play basketball.
In a Facebook post today, Tiong said he will be discussing the matter with the Bintulu Disaster Management Committee (BDDMC) on how the quarantine procedure was broken and how will it affect efforts to prevent more Covid-19 cases in Bintulu.
“Although the people who have been identified as being close contacts with the student had been placed in isolation, authorities were unable to determine how many more people had been close contacts.
“How many more people had been infected without even knowing it? We will need to monitor this closely for the sake of our families and all of Bintulu.
“I call on those who have been with the confirmed patient to get tested,” said the Dudong assemblyman.
In the meantime, Tiong, who is also Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) president, said the authorities will find out why the hotel, acting as a quarantine centre, allowed the student to be released early and that they will work to prevent a similar event from happening in the future.
Tiong also said he had requested the Ministry of Health (MoH) to handle the case with caution.
He hoped that all the quarantine hotels would learn from this and cooperate with the standard operating procedures (SOPs) laid out by MoH.
He reiterated that anyone quarantined must not leave the quarantine hotel without obtaining the relevant release order.
Tiong added that the People’s Volunteer Corps (Rela) personnel must take their duties seriously while the MoH need to review the incident thoroughly.
He noted potential contacts and asymptomatic Covid-19 patients are the biggest challenges that the authorities face.
Meanwhile, another Covid-19 patient infected with the Omicron variant in Bintulu was a person returning from Africa.
Tiong said he had requested MoH to monitor all passengers from the two flights returning from Africa and the UK.
He pointed out that MoH must be strict with RT-PCR testing to identify Covid-19 patients as soon as possible.
“Our greatest concern is those infected without showing any symptoms. Once it is spread to the general population, it is more difficult to control,” he said. — DayakDaily
