THE Covid-19 pandemic has now reached the deepest reaches of Sarawak and to the ethnic group considered the most backward, the semi-nomadic Penans.

Last Sunday, a 54-year-old woman from Long Luteng, a settlement deep in the Baram district, became the first Penan to die from Covid-19.

Long Luteng is on the Patah river, a tributary of the Baram river. To reach Miri, it is a 10-hour drive on logging roads.

The woman reportedly was brought to Miri hospital on June 10 when she fell sick and the mandatory test upon admission found her positive for Covid-19.

State assemblyman Dennis Ngau told The Malaysian Insight positive cases have now been detected among Penans from Long Kevok, Long Latie and Long Layun.

Ngau, the Telang Usan rep, said he is today assisting the health department transport “some 100 people” from Long Bedian, Long Kevok, Long Latie and Long Luteng to Miri to be quarantined after they were identified as close contacts to infected persons.

The group came in the heels of about 30 Penans from Long Win who were taken to Miri last week to be quarantined.

Tests done in quarantine found more than 20 of them positive for the virus.

“I’m not sure if this group (the 100) is the last. There could be more,” Ngau said.

The infection reaching the most remote areas in his Telang Usan constituency – where health facilities to treat Covis-19 cases is practically non-existent – has turned his worst fear into reality, Ngau said.

Transporting those identified by the health department to be quarantined in Miri is not only a long back-breaking journey over many hours on bumpy and dusty logging roads.

Notifying the locals of the need for them to quarantine is also a monumental task, Ngau said.

The Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) lawmaker said he spent the “whole night” last night “trying to communicate with my people there” (Long Bedian, Long Kevok, Long Latie and Long Luteng) to pass the health department notices on those who have been ordered to be brought down to Miri.

He said at the time he was speaking with The Malaysian Insight – just past noon – the group had reached Long Lama, some 150km from Miri, or over two hours of driving as distances are commonly calculated in this part of the world.

Ngau estimated there are between 12,000 to 14,000 Penans living in 33 villages in his constituency.

Despite his fears, Ngau said the infection seemed to have brought some positive changes to the Penans.

“Initially they were reluctant to be vaccinated. Their fear of the needle was compounded by all those negative messages being spread around about the vaccination.

“However, in the last two to three days, the mood has changed. Maybe it’s due to what is happening to them.

“I noticed the Penans have become serious about the infection and I see some change in mindset on the vaccination.

“I see they are turning up at vaccination centres like at the Long Bedian and Long San health clinics, which are also Covid-19 vaccination centres,” he said. – June 15, 2021.