By Adrian Lim
KUCHING, April 24: Legal action is being pursued against the culprits who were responsible for the emergence of the recent Covid-19 SWAG Cluster after they were suspected of violating the standard operating procedures (SOPs) to curb the spread of the virus.
Kuching City South Council (MBKS) mayor Dato Wee Hong Seng said the public should allow the investigation of the case to be carried out and to let the legal proceedings take its course rather than criticising those responsible for the cluster.
“This case is yet to be finalised. Currently, the case is entering the legal process,” he revealed during a live stream on his Facebook page entitled ‘Shall Wee Talk’ today.
Wee added that once an outbreak of Covid-19 occurred in the city centre such as Kuching, the situation was very hard to control.
Citing the SWAG Cluster as an example which has infected 35 people, he believed the number of infections in Kuching will continue to rise as one infected person can transmit the virus to 10 people in the city area due to population density.
Wee added that just because a group of irresponsible people who did not abide by the SOPs for the prevention of Covid-19, the consequences has caused much hardship to frontliners, medical personnel, enforcement officers and business operators.
As the damage has been done, he hoped the case will become a lesson for the public not to take things for granted while continuing to adhere to the SOPs of Covid-19 to curb the transmission of the virus.
Wee said no amount of fines or enforcement action taken will help to alleviate the situation unless the people practice self-discipline themselves.
In the meantime, Wee acknowledged that the council is facing challenges having to oversee 1,452 business premises in the MBKS area with just over 40 enforcement personnel.
Apart from that, he said the council will set up billboards next week at strategic locations to remind and warn the public of the risk of Covid-19 if they do practice the SOPs set by the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) and the local authorities.
Among those who joined Wee during his live stream were Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) chairman Clarence Ting and Miri City Council (MCC) mayor Adam Yii. — DayakDaily
