MIRI – The mayor of Miri believes that non-compliance to Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs) among industries here and other big districts in Sarawak could derail the state’s ability to move to the next phase of the National Recovery Plan.
Speaking to The Vibes, Adam Yii said that if workers in these industries are infected, or not yet vaccinated against Covid-19, they can spread the coronavirus, scuppering the economic recovery plan, for not just a particular district, but the whole state.
Yii said that Miri district saw a steady decline in Covid-19 infections for several days, before a sudden explosion yesterday due to an outbreak at a sawmill where 125 migrant workers and six local workers were infected.
“That new cluster outbreak has spoiled Miri’s chances of moving into Phase 2 of the National Recovery Plan. We in Miri were seeing a decline in infections until this outbreak,” he said.
Social media users here also expressed anger with the incident that happened.
They questioned how so many workers managed to break the SOPs at the sawmill.
“The authorities must investigate the management of the sawmill,” said Lilian Sylvia, a housewife.
The big sawmill in Kuala Baram is 25km north of the city of Miri.
The state Disaster Management Committee secretariat yesterday dubbed this new outbreak the Industri 121 Kuala Baram cluster. It was one of three new clusters yesterday in Sarawak.
"The sawmill has been placed under lockdown. The cluster has 132 workers infected so far, with 125 foreigners and six locals. They have been sent to the Miri Hospital for treatment,” the secretariat had said.
Active screenings are being done now with 210 other workers under lockdown.
The other outbreaks yesterday were the Sg Sebetan cluster in Saratok district, which saw 45 people in a longhouse infected, while the Sega cluster in Bau district had 17 infections at a housing area.
There were 424 new infections yesterday throughout the state, with Miri district having the most due to the outbreak in the sawmill.
Kuching had 92 positive cases, Telang Usan (40), Meradong (34), Sibu (32), Sri Aman (19) and numerous districts below 10 new cases each.
Yii said outbreaks in the form of big clusters like the sawmill incident will cause more hardship for everyone.
“Those in the society, especially in the small and medium size business circles will continue to suffer if we cannot reopen due to the constant surge in infections,” he said.
The mayor again urged the public, including big companies, to strictly obey all SOPs to help break the chain of infection and avoid further deaths. – The Vibes, July 6, 2021
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