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Uggah (second left) exchanges pleasures with young girls in traditional costumes awaiting his arrival at Rh Lidi Busok. Aziz is on your left.
BETONG: The number of Covid-19 positives in Sarawak began to skyrocket after the Sabah state elections in late September, Senior Deputy Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah said today.
In his speech while officiating a program at Rh Lidi Busok, Ulu Babu in Betong, Uggah, who is also chair of the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC), said that Sarawak had recorded zero or single digit cases daily prior the polls.
“But then this month we saw our cases start to increase after the Sabah state elections.
“We had people returning to the state then and now about 60 percent of our positive cases are imported cases,” he said.
As such, Uggah said that the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic in the state still needs everyone’s unconditional collaboration and support.
He believes that transmission of the virus can be kept under control when everyone continues to diligently comply with all established standard operating procedures (SOPs).
For rural areas, Uggah said that all community leaders must play their role in providing leadership in the fight against Covid-19.
“They should insist that all SOPs be observed in their respective towns and communal houses, especially on social distancing, avoiding large concentrations and frequent hand washing.
“It is a positive sign that some of them are still not welcoming outsiders or visitors to their longhouses and villages,” he said.
Meanwhile, the program officiated by Uggah was the [email protected] Komuniti program organized by the Information Department.
This state program focuses on raising awareness among people about the need for them to continue cooperating with the government to stop the spread of Covid-19.
Uggah again reminded those outside the Kuching district not to travel to the district which is now a red zone area if they did not have urgent business to attend to there.
“In the same way, I hope that those in the Kuching district will refrain from traveling to other districts for now,” he said.
He assured that the SDMC will continue to closely monitor the situation in the state.
“We have enough execution programs and we have enough government funding,”
he said.
Later, in a message recording session with the department’s media unit, Uggah said that the proliferation of fake news on social media is a major challenge for SDMC.
“People are getting confused and overly concerned. This makes our work difficult.
“At first, it was equally challenging to get all government departments and agencies, both at the state and federal levels, and most importantly, the people themselves, to move as one in the fight.
“We had to make sure that the Department of Health, as the lead agency, had sufficient facilities and front-line staff, particularly Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Fortunately, we have been able to achieve all of this. “
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