THE Health Ministry in Putrajaya has listed Sarawak as the state with the most number of mutated Covid-19 variants of concern.
Last week on July 14, the ministry said on its official website that the health authorities had found more and more variants emerging from patients tested positive with Covid-19 in the hospitals in southern Sarawak.
A day earlier, it was announced by Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) that another 16 cases of people infected with the ferocious Delta variant of Covid-19 have been uncovered in Kuching.
Unimas head of public health research Dr David Pereira had tabled a public report about the matter, which has been sent to the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC).
On June 16, the first of 16 cases of the Delta variant was uncovered in Kuching by Unimas, detected in a Sarawakian man aged 56.
The Beta, Theta, and Eta variants have also been detected in the state, said Dr Pereira and his team, who are carrying out research into these variants.
There were (as of Tuesday) 56 other cases of variants of concern and variants of interest involving Theta, Beta and Eta strains found in Sarawak, said Dr Pereira. These cases were detected in places in Kuching, Samarahan, Bau, Lundu, Serian, and Sibu.
Until today, the SDMC has not disclosed any details on who these patients found with the variants are.
Are these infected people with the variants local Sarawakians or foreigners? Where was the original source of their infections? Did they get infected inside Sarawak or outside? How widespread are their close contacts? How many places did they go to in Sarawak before they were taken for isolation and treatment?
There are so many questions that need answers and clarifications.
The SDMC, the main state government agency handling the Covid-19 crisis in Sarawak, has remained very silent.
On Friday, Sarawak DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen publicly questioned if the SDMC was withholding information from the people. He also questioned if the SDMC has been hiding vital information about Covid-19 outbreak cases in eateries in Kuching.
From Friday until now, the SDMC has yet to respond to Chong’s remarks. SDMC chairman Datuk Douglas Uggah Embas has not publicly commented on what Chong had said either. Uggah has maintained total silence on the variants already found in Sarawak.
People’s anxiety met with silence
Netizens have increasingly bombarded SDMC’s website with their queries, demanding SDMC and Uggah to shed light on how these variants had entered Sarawak.
They want to know how serious and widespread the variants had become in Sarawak. There are now claims that Sibu town already has a suspected Delta case in a Covid-19 positive foreigner.
An infected Indonesian man was admitted into Sibu Hospital last week. The hospital had sent blood samples taken from him to Unimas for genomic tests. The SDMC and Uggah have not commented on this Sibu case either.
Sibu Division Disaster Management Committee coordinator Dr Annuar Rapaee said Unimas will need about two weeks to complete the studies on this latest case.
Dr Annuar said it is not confirmed as yet if the man has the Delta strain. He called on the public not to speculate. If indeed the Delta strain has spread to Sibu, then it shows how swiftly the mutated coronavirus can spread and infect. It has already wrecked havoc worldwide, causing swift infections and many deaths.
The rakyat in Sarawak expects the SDMC to be more open and to constantly provide updates on the cases involving the variants, especially those Delta cases. The manner in which the SDMC has been keeping silent about these variants will only fuel speculation and worry.
There are already talks that the Sinovac vaccine, which the majority of Sarawakians have been injected with, is not effective enough against the Delta variant. The SDMC and Uggah too have remained silent on this.
No state ministers or assemblymen have even commented on this. It looks like they don't know how to respond, and this is very worrying. We the rakyat expect our elected representatives to be in the know on the latest issues of concern affecting us.
Ignorance and silence do not help the rakyat at all. – The Vibes, July 18, 2021
Stephen Then is a reporter at The Vibes, based in Miri
