MIRI – A Penan housewife in Long Luteng, a remote settlement in northern Sarawak, died of Covid-19 on June 10 after tests confirmed her cause of death yesterday.
The woman, in her 50s, was taken to Miri Hospital after she fell seriously ill at the settlement.
Telang Usan assemblyman Dennis Ngau confirmed the case with The Vibes, saying that contact tracing and screening are ongoing.
“Yes, the Penan woman who died from Covid-19 is from Long Luteng in my constituency. My deepest condolences to her family,” he said.
He added that authorities are also looking into how she got infected.
Long Luteng, in Telang Usan, Baram, is about seven hours by timber road from Miri.
On June 8, some three dozen Penans from remote settlement Long Win were sent to Miri to undergo comprehensive Covid-19 screening and quarantine.
Ngau told The Vibes that the affected villagers were close contacts of a Penan couple who tested positive recently, and that Miri Hospital has the facilities to test and treat the villagers.
“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.”
Long Win is eight hours away by timber road from Miri and used to house about 400 Penans but many have migrated to urban areas to work.
On June 6, a health team was deployed to another Penan settlement – Long Lamai – after a virus-positive woman visited the village and infected at least six people.
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 might have infected more villagers during her stay. Long Lamai has about 300 villagers.
Miri Disaster Management Committee chairman Datuk Lee Kim Shin had said a quarantine centre and early treatment centre was set up in Long Lamai, with police personnel being deployed from Marudi town.
Long Lamai has since been placed under the enhanced movement control order. It is located in the Bario mountains about 600km inland from Miri, under the Mulu constituency.
Mulu assemblyman Datuk Gerawat Gala said he had appealed to all the villagers in Long Lamai to get screened for Covid-19.
“Long Lamai will be cordoned off and all villagers placed under immediate quarantine,” Gerawat said.
The Covid-19 crisis in Sarawak has killed 351 people and infected more than 54,000 as of yesterday evening. – The Vibes, June 14, 2021
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