KUCHING, March 17: Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) president Voon Lee Shan urges the state government to enlist help and expert advice from China to implement effective measures to address the escalating Covid-19 situation in Sarawak.
Noting that the state government had taken measures to control the spread of Covid-19 in Sarawak, Voon however opined that more drastic and stringent measures are needed.
“As the government is aware, countries like Europe (sic) and the US are now virtually under lockdown due to their initial lacklustre attitude in summoning their resources in anticipation of the worsening Covid-19 pandemic outbreak worldwide.
“As a result, their health facilities are stretched beyond their limits. There were reports saying Covid-19 patients especially the elderly were being turned down for treatment in hospitals and were asked to go home due to lack of hospital beds and life-supporting facilities,” he claimed in a statement today.
Instead of waiting for instructions from the Ministry of Health, Voon suggested the state government urgently contact the General Consulate of the People’s Republic of China in Kuching and seek expert advice.
“Life support machines like ventilators must be adequately stocked (in the hundreds at least) for those who are in critical condition and in dire need of it,” he added.
He also urged for persistent efforts in reminding the public at large about the seriousness of Covid-19 as the novel coronavirus has no cure yet while treatment was symptomatic, thus making life-support systems the only hope of survival for critical patients.
Voon also highlighted the need to look into legislation to empower relevant authorities and health enforcement officers to search for and bring all suspected infected individuals for treatment.
“It is also necessary to make it a crime for those who failed to take precautionary measures in such outbreaks in future.
“This should be a war situation against Covid-19 and the government should get all government departments including police and army to fight this virus and should not leave it to doctors and medical staffs alone.
“They should be mobilised to educate the public of the danger of this virus besides distributing masks and sanitisers to create public awareness,” he suggested. — DayakDaily
