SIBU, Sept 18: Incidence of Covid-19 cases per 1,000 people in the state is the highest in the country at 17.7 people as of Sept 17.
Assistant Minister for Education, Science and Technological Research Dr Annuar Rapaee in disclosing this during his Facebook livestream today, said the highly infectious Delta variant has resulted the state to record the highest number of cases among other states in the country.
“In comparison, the next state with the high number of cases per 1,000 people is Penang at 13.9 people, followed by Kelantan at 9.5 people.
“We have the highest number of cases due to the Delta variant. It could also be due to the weakening of our immunity from vaccination, so we will need a booster dose,” he said.
Dr Annuar, who is also Sibu Divisional Disaster Management Committee coordinator, said for booster dose, it is still unclear whether those who had received Pfizer vaccine will receive the same vaccine, as well as for those who was jabbed with Sinovac and AstraZeneca.
“We don’t know whether there is any difference if different vaccine is used. Let the expert decide,” he added
Meanwhile, Dr. Annuar noted the high number of new cases daily, might demoralized the frontliners who have been working very hard in the fight against the coronavirus.
“So it is advisable that we don’t bring up anything that could dampen their spirit,” he said.
He pointed out that majority of the cases are Category 1 and 2 cases where the state has recorded one of the lowest rate in mortality, which is at 2.9 people per 100,000 people.
For instance, he continued, from Sept 12 to Sept 17, a total of 99.88 per cent or 1,685 of the cases in Sibu are in that two categories, and there were only two Category 3 cases recorded, while zero cases fall under Category 4 and 5.
The Nangka assemblyman also said the state is not alone in reporting a spike in number of cases as Singapore is also expecting to record 1,000 new cases daily.
Meanwhile, in responding to a question from a viewer who asked whether endemic stage means a return to normalcy, he said it would take time before things can get back to normal.
“We will still need to wear mask in the next one to two years which I think should be,” he explained. – DayakDaily.
