MIRI – Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii has warned that Sarawak is poorly equipped to transition into a Covid-19 endemic stage, and that can be seen by how the state authorities have failed to tackle the surge of the Delta variant.
Pushing the whole state into an official endemic status may open doors to even more infections and trigger further clusters everywhere, he warned in Dewan Rakyat.
He said that he has raised this concern with the Health, Science and Innovation Select Committee, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin as well as Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham.
“We had a frank and fruitful meeting on the current Covid-19 situation in the country and Sarawak,” Dr Yii, who is a medical graduate, said today.
“I said that Sarawak is not ready to transition into an endemic stage as the fundamental support system in the state is still lacking.”
The DAP legislator said that the authorities must push for a total population vaccination to cover all ages, especially for children, while also having booster jab exercises and comprehensive testing policies.
“We must get all these in place to deal with more infections, now that Delta variant is so aggressively spreading in the state,” he said in his social media updates to his constituents today.
He warned against looking at Covid-19 as just another disease that people will have to live with by regarding it as endemic.
Sarawak is consulting the National Security Council (NSC) on whether it can declare the state as being endemic with Covid-19 soon.
Chief Minister Datuk Abang Johari Openg said yesterday that the state is expected to complete vaccination for teens aged 12 to 17 by the end of October.
“Due to our rapid pace, we can complete our vaccination programme soon.
“We are consulting the NSC so that they will decide on our endemic status,” he told reporters in Kuching after visiting a vaccination centre for teens at Dewan Madma.
Sarawak yesterday recorded another 3,660 new infections plus five deaths.
Kuching saw 1,541 new cases, followed by Samarahan (268), Sibu (255), Serian (245), Bintulu (219), Miri (189), Bau (157), Asajaya (127) and many other districts (a few dozen each).
The five latest deaths bring the tally to 656. – The Vibes, September 17, 2021
