KUCHING, April 14: Hidup urges the Sarawak government to conduct mass Covid-19 screening for those residing in Sarawak.
Following the 607 Covid-19 cases reported yesterday which set a new record high for single day infections in Sarawak since the pandemic outbreak last year, Habitat for Indigenous and Urban Programme (Hidup) president George Young Si Ricord Jr urged the Sarawak government to quickly swab residents to curb Covid-19 transmission.
“The only effective way to cut the chain of transmission is to identify and take off the streets all these asymptomatic people and to seal all entry points to Sarawak.
“With these in mind, I urge, in the strongest way possible to immediately conduct mass screening of all who are now residing in Sarawak.
“We read of health and medical personnel from Peninsular Malaysia being dispatched here to combat the virus.
“Use these people in the mass screening. Do it zone by zone, locking down the zones that are yet to be screened,” he said in a statement.
George asserted that mass screening to identify asymptomatic patients is the most effective way to break the chain of Covid-19 transmission, and that locking down and penalising people with a fine of RM10,000 will not solve the real cause of the problem.
At the same time, George questioned the rationale of the Sarawak government for allowing schools to be reopened amidst the rising number of Covid-19 cases in Sarawak.
He said the decision by the Ministry of Education (MoE), Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Sarawak government to reopen schools have proven to be disastrous.
George observed that many secondary and primary schools were closed after reopening due to Covid-19 cases being detected and that the vaccination of teachers is still very much in the early stages and the vast majority of teachers have not been vaccinated.
He also pointed out that children aged 16 and below do not receive Covid-19 vaccines and deemed schools in Sarawak not safe to be reopened.
Thus, he asserted, there is an increased health risk in particular from interactions between teachers and students, adding that this increases the fears and anxieties of parents who send their children to schools. — DayakDaily
