By Lian Cheng
KUCHING, Mar 26: All funeral ceremonies to be held must be reported to the nearest district office.
This is the new standard operating procedures (SOPs) laid down by the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) in view of the high number of Covid-19 cases related to funerals, burials and prayer services for the deceased.
“Given that most Covid-19 positive cases involved social gatherings (funerals), social event organizers of funerals must report and inform the event to the nearest District Office as well as adhere to strict SOPs before conducting funeral ceremonies,” said SDMC in a statement today.
SDMC also called on the assistance of community leaders to monitor and ensure strict Covid-19 preventive SOPs during such occasions.
Since the end of last year and the beginning of the year, Sarawak has been registering a high number of Covid-19 positive cases many of which were linked to funeral gatherings.
The most recent Covid-19 cluster related to funeral identified by SDMC is the Rajang Cluster of Tanjung Manis.
On Mar 3, the index case who is 55-year-old woman from Sarikei had travelled to Kampung Rajang, Tanjung Manis, Mukah where it was later found that she had infected 28 individuals who attended the funeral ceremony and kenduri tahlil (prayer and feasting gathering) she attended.
Prior to this cluster, there were three clusters related to funerals and burials namely the Gelong Cluster of Kapit, the Emperoh Jambu Cluster of Padawan and the Pasai Cluster of Sibu.
Of the four funeral clusters, the Pasai Cluster which was identified by SDMC as early as the end of December last year continues to register cases linking to it.
As of Mar 16, infection cases related to the Pasai Cluster had reached 2,639 and SDMC has yet to declare the ending of this cluster, even until today.-DayakDaily
