MIRI – Concerns have been raised about pilots being exempted from the mandatory Covid-19 quarantine upon their return to Sarawak.
A pilot here, who works for a local airline operating rural air services, has tested positive for the virus when he returned from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, which is a Covid-19 red zone.
The state Disaster Management Committee has confirmed that the pilot infected at least four people as of yesterday.
State Transport Minister Datuk Lee Kim Shin said the pilot was found to be Covid-19 positive shortly upon his return from flight duties.
“The pilot was not required to undergo the mandatory 14-day quarantine in Miri as he is considered part of the essential services sector (along with key civil servants such as police, army, doctors and nurses).
“However, prior to his test results, the pilot had close contacts with at least 99 people while in Miri. All have been identified by the Health Department.
“We are still in the process of locating all the aircraft passengers that the pilot had contact with,” he said at a meeting with the committee.
The pilot also told authorities that he had gone shopping and dined at restaurants here. He is now at Miri Hospital’s Covid-19 isolation ward, along with four others.
The Vibes had four days ago highlighted the lack of effective surveillance system for people undergoing Covid-19 quarantine at hotels and homes after their return from high-risk destinations.
Miri MP Dr Teo Yu Keng told The Vibes that many MPs had raised this issue with the Health Ministry and state agencies in charge of handling the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said concerns are mounting after many incidences of people under Covid-19 surveillance eluded security and ventured into public areas, despite them being a potential health risk to others.
He added that the lack of surveillance has enabled numerous breaches so far, not only here, but also in other places in the state.
Last month, a man under quarantine in a hotel here after arriving from a high-risk Covid-19 destination was arrested after he secretly left the building.
Police nabbed the man after being alerted by the public, who found him with his quarantine-wristband in the city centre.
Sarawak has recorded 19 Covid-19 deaths and more than 1,000 infections so far. – The Vibes, January 6, 2021
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