MIRI – At least six Penan folk in Long Lamai – one of the most remote settlements in the state – have tested positive for Covid-19, with a health team from Miri rushed to the area by an emergency helicopter belonging to the Fire and Rescue Department.
The Miri Disaster Management Committee has instructed the team, which just left the airport here, to carry out a mass coronavirus screening on more than 300 Penan folk.
Committee chairman Datuk Lee Kim Shin told reporters that, so far, at least six villagers in Long Lamai have been infected in the first round of screening three days ago.
“Long Lamai is being placed under an enhanced movement control order.
“Today, the health team is going in again to test each one of the villagers.
“A quarantine and early treatment centre will be set up in Long Lamai, with police being deployed there from Marudi.”
Three days ago, eight Penan folk in Long Lamai were screened for Covid-19 after they were identified as close contacts of a villager who tested positive in Miri.
The index case is a woman who lives here, but 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.
Long Lamai, one of the largest Penan settlements, is situated in the Bario highlands about 600km inland from Miri. A land journey through timber tracks from here can take up to 12 hours.
As of yesterday, Sarawak logged a Covid-19 death toll of 318 and caseload of more than 50,000. – The Vibes, June 6, 2021
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