KUCHING, Sept 13: Contain Covid-19 clusters based on its locality to enable the operation of the country’s industries, said Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr James Jemut Masing.
In pointing this out, Masing said Covid-19 will be part of everyone’s lives in the next few years as it will eventually evolve to become a health endemic, and the sprout of new clusters throughout the country is inevitable.
“When that occurs, we must try to contain Covid-19 clusters regionally or locally, and not as a national pandemic with total lockdown.
“This will necessitate the government to open up the industries (for operation), sector by sector, with stringent standard operating procedure (SOPs) compliance, as advised by the medical experts,” he said in a statement today.
Masing, who is also Infrastructure and Ports Development Minister, said that he also agreed with the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) advisor Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian’s suggestions on co-existing with coronavirus.
“Periodical booster of vaccine for Covid-19 may be required as what is done with influenza shots in the past,” he added.
On another note, Masing said it is irresponsible for the media outlets or portals to sensationalise the figures of Covid-19 cases in order to gain better sales.
He asserted the media outlets have to be taught to understand health data and to interpret it in manners that will not cause panic among people on the ground.
“That is to say what percentage of Covid-19 positive cases are life-threatening and what percentage is just like common cold.
“News media and portals must not sensationalise the figures provided by SDMC for better sales. To me, that is irresponsible journalism,” he opined. – DayakDaily
