MIRI – A health team is now in the remote village of Long Lamai deep in the interior of northern Sarawak, to carry out Covid-19 screenings among the 300 plus Penan natives there.
The team made up of seven medical personnel flew to the village on a Fire and Rescue Department helicopter from Miri yesterday.
Long Lamai is one of the largest Penan settlements in interior Sarawak, and authorities are concerned about a potentially deadly crisis in the community.
The team is carrying out full-scale tests among the Penans, after one of the villagers recently tested positive for the coronavirus in Miri city.
That villager had been found infected with Covid-19 after she had made a trip to Long Lamai to attend her mother’s funeral and returned to Miri where she now lives.
It is feared that she might have infected other villagers in Long Lamai during her stay there.
The Sarawak Unit for Public Communication (UKAS) in its latest report today said that the health team flew out to Long Lamai from the Miri Airport.
Long Lamai is about 500km inland from Miri.
“The woman had travelled to Long Lamai two weeks ago to attend her mother’s funeral.
“She was found positive with Covid-19 after she came back to Miri,” the unit said.
“Her immediate family in Miri have been placed under quarantine and screened for Covid-19.
“The health team is now in Long Lamai to check the rest of the villagers there whom she might have mingled with during the funeral.”
A total of 311 people have perished so far in Sarawak due to the pandemic which has infected nearly 49,000 people in the state. – The Vibes, June 6, 2021
