MIRI – The Sarawak Health Department will transport some three dozen Penan folk from remote settlement Long Win to Miri to undergo a comprehensive Covid-19 screening and quarantine.
Telang Usan assemblyman Dennis Ngau told The Vibes that the affected villagers are close contacts of a Penan couple who tested positive recently.
He said Miri Hospital has the facilities to test and treat the villagers.
Long Win is about an eight-hour journey by timber road from here.
The Vibes had yesterday reported that the infected couple raised concerns over a possible outbreak among the minority community.
“Yes, it is true that the couple from Long Win have been found positive with Covid-19. They were working in Miri and went back to Long Win to attend a funeral recently,” said Ngau.
“After they returned to Miri, they started feeling ill and were later found to be infected with Covid-19.
“I am not sure if they got infected during the funeral at Long Win or while in Miri.”
Last Friday, a health team was deployed to another Penan settlement – Long Lamai – after a virus-positive woman visited the village.
She had returned to the remote settlement to attend her mother’s funeral two weeks ago.
She tested positive after returning to Miri, and authorities fear that she may have infected more villagers during her stay.
The team has to screen more than 300 villagers in Long Lamai.
Sarawak recorded 703 new Covid-19 cases yesterday, and the state currently has a death toll of 326. – The Vibes, June 8, 2021
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