KUCHING, Oct 26: Revealing Covid-19 patients’ occupations and location history in the daily statements of State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) is to help the people identify potential close contacts.
Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP) Women chief Kho Teck Wan said none of the patients’ personal information such as identification card numbers or names were disclosed.
“During the first wave of Covid-19 in Sarawak, SDMC only disclosed the general locality of the Covid-19 patients and urged people who had close contact to volunteer for Covid-19 test,” she said.
Kho added she has been receiving pleas from the public, urging the state government to inform the people of the addresses and locations visited by local transmission Covid-19 patients.
Believing that these requests are reasonable as the information could help to find close contacts among the public, Kho asserted that revelation of such information is not meant to hurt businesses.
She was responding to the recent criticisms by the opposition on SDMC advisor Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian for revealing the occupations and locations frequented by Covid-19 patients.
There have been several more locally transmitted cases in Sarawak for the past few days and tension was present among the people.
With that, Kho urged all community parties to work together in fighting the long war against Covid-19.
“With more information available to the rakyat, our community at large is participating in the fight of Covid-19 outbreak together.
“I sincerely hope certain quarters will give full corporation to the relevant authorities to perform their duties instead of criticising their efforts,” she said. —DayakDaily
