MIRI – Family members and other close contacts of Covid-19-positive Penan are fleeing deep into the jungle to escape health personnel, said Telang Usan assemblyman Dennis Ngau.
“I am very worried that we may not be able to find them and screen them if they hide deep in the jungle. These Penan are afraid of being subjected to isolation and health screenings, and even vaccination,” he told The Vibes.
“These things are rather new to them; they don’t have any experience with pandemics. This is the first time such a serious health crisis is threatening them.
"They are very scared, and they think that by running away, they can hide. But, some may already be infected with Covid-19. We must get them screened and vaccinated quickly.”
Health teams from Miri have already entered Penan settlements to conduct mass screening and vaccination, he said.
Jabs are being administered at the Long Bedian and Long San clinics, as well as the Long Lama community hall.
Yesterday, more than two dozen Penan were reported to have contracted the coronavirus, as the disease spreads rapidly in the Baram jungles of northern Sarawak.
The Penan are among the state’s smallest ethnic minorities, with about 15,000 of them living mostly in Baram and Kapit districts.
Baram is seeing Covid-19 spreading swiftly in the remote settlements of Long Kevok, Long Latie, Long Layun, Long Win, Long Lamai, as well as Long Luteng, where a Penan housewife who caught the virus died after being brought to Miri Hospital.
Baram People’s Action Committee chairman Philip Jau told The Vibes that the transmission rate is increasing.
Cases began to rise following the Long Luteng case, spreading to Long Win, where a husband-and-wife pair tested positive, and Long Lamai, where a funeral sparked an outbreak.
Ngau and Jau said the cases among the Penan may be due to infected individuals entering Baram from other districts.
Long Lamai, a major Penan settlement located in the Bario mountains, was hit by Covid-19 last week.
Health personnel were flown in from Miri on Friday to set up quarantine and screening facilities there. – The Vibes, June 15, 2021
