KUCHING, Jan 20: Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr James Jemut Masing today urged Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) to publish in both social and printed media, the names and identity cards of the 23 individuals in Sibu who have been tested positive for Covid-19 but could not be traced.
He said that if the 23 Covid-19 positive cases could not be traced, then it is very dangerous as they could be master spreaders without them knowing it.
“I suggest SDMC to ask these 23 people to call the SDMC as soon as possible in social and printed media.
“Publish their names including their ICs in social and printed media as soon as possible, but don’t tell them why,” Masing said in a statement issued here today.
Masing was responding to a news report which quoted Minister of Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian expressing his alarm that 23 individuals who tested positive for Covid-19 could not be contacted by the Sibu Health Department following their Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) screening.
“Though so far, we have protected the identities of individuals at all costs, we may be forced to publish their names in the interest of the safety of the public (including themselves so they are not at risk of becoming a new phenomenon as in West Malaysia “Brought In Dead”, or risking their families and friends),” Dr Sim said on his Facebook post yesterday.
Dr Sim said he had spoken to Sibu and Miri hospitals, telling medical frontliners they are indispensable human resources that cannot be replaced overnight in the war against Covid-19. He said he shared with them lessons from the Sarawak General Hospital during the first wave of the pandemic. – DayakDaily
