SARAWAK must immediately step up enforcement and limit outdoor activities to curb the spread of Covid-19 from Kuching to the rest of the state, said Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii.

The state yesterday reported a new case – in the Sentosa Hospital cluster – taking the cumulative number of cases in the state to 680.

In response to the outbreak, the state disaster management committee has declared the Kota Sentosa township, home to Sentosa Hospital, and its vicinities an “active case detection area”, warning of an imminent lockdown.

Data from the committee showed there are 68 active cases in the state, 49 of them in Kuching.

Yii said the careless attitude of the public would only cost more lives and pressed for urgent action.

“We do not have to wait until it is red to take this seriously and take the necessary precautions.

“That is why I strongly urge the authorities to increase enforcement, encourage public masking and get people to limit their outdoor activities during this period.

“The ‘tidak apa attitude’ could prove deadly for other people and that is why it must be removed. Masking protects the community, not just you,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Yii, himself a recovered coronavirus patient, was responding to the Health Ministry’s declaration of Kuching as a red zone on Saturday after the number of cases in the district topped 40.

The committee rejected the label, saying Kuching was three cases shy of the grade. It said that of the 52 cases reported in the district in the last two weeks, only 38 were locally transmitted while imported infections did not count.

The DAP lawmaker said regardless of classification, the necessary protocols should be put in place to manage the situation.

“Official statistics released by the Health Ministry show there have been 40 (locally transmitted) cases in Kuching in the past two weeks, making Kuching a red zone,” he said.

Sentosa cluster

The outbreak Kuching is linked to the Sentosa Hospital cluster, which has reported 21 cases as of July 26.

Yii said as most of the patients in the cluster were asymptomatic, the infections would not have been discovered if the index patient, who is a healthcare worker, had not volunteered to be tested prior to going back to her hometown.

“The first healthcare worker is referred to as the index case not because she was the source of the infection (which is still under investigation) but because her case was the first to be discovered.

“During the first wave, many such healthcare workers made sacrifices and stayed at work serving the community. They could not visit their families at home as there were concerns they would carry the virus to their loved ones.

“So now, as a precaution before going home for a short break, this healthcare worker did the responsible thing and got tested and when she tested positive, followed all the necessary rules set by the Health Department for treatment and isolation.”

He said the discovery of infection led to mass testing in the healthcare facility which is now in quarantine.

As of Saturday, 677 people linked to the cluster have been screened.

Yii said many who tested positive were not close contacts of the index case.

Although the figures could be daunting, he said it is crucial to determine the actual number of cases and to detect these cases early so that  early intervention is possible to prevent the spread of the disease.

“My main concern right now is that government makes sure the front-liners, including those in Hospital Sentosa and the surrounding residents, are protected and their welfare is taken care of.

“Currently healthcare workers treating and caring for the patients in that hospital are also quarantined within the hospital grounds.”

Active testing is underway in the high-risk areas, including construction sites and locations with active clusters.

Speed v accuracy

Meanwhile, there was the risk of the Health Ministry’s antigen rapid test kit returning false positive or false negative results for arrivals at the airports, 

The DAP lawmaker said there are cases of people who tested negative on arrival but later turned out to be infected.

Director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said previously while antigen testing is not 100% accurate, it is fast and simple to do. – July 27, 2020.