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MIRI – Community leaders and political representatives are urged to go to the ground and warn the rural population on the latest surge of Omicron infections happening at the four biggest urban districts in Sarawak.
Sarawak’s Sahabat Alam Malaysia coordinator Jok Jau Evong said the rural populace are still largely ignorant of the latest spike in Covid-19 infections in heavily populated districts Kuching, Miri, Sibu and Bintulu.
Based on the feedback he received from his ground contacts, Jok said many rural longhouse folk in Baram are of the opinion that Covid-19 is no longer a threat.
“There seems to be a general lack of information among the rural folk concerning the Omicron situation.
“Unlike during the movement control order (MCO) period at the height of the Covid-19 last year and the year before, there seems to be a drop in the level of concern over the Covid-19 threats in rural areas already.
“Many rural folk are no longer taking Covid-19 as seriously as before.
“They do not seem to be aware of the latest news that Kuching, Miri, Sibu and Bintulu are seeing a drastic surge in Omicron cases.
“This is a big worry as the movement of rural folk to the cities and towns, and from cities and towns to rural longhouses are in full swing already throughout Sarawak,” he said.
Jok was reacting to the drastic escalation in Omicron cases over the past 48 hours where Kuching recorded 436 new infections, Miri (270), Sibu (194) and Bintulu (105) with a man aged 79 in Kapit district brought into Kapit Hospital dead from his home.
His death was confirmed to be due to Covid-19, according to the state Disaster Management Committee secretariat in a press statement yesterday.
Additionally, the secretariat also pointed out six serious cases that require hospitalisation with three active clusters state-wide.
Sarawak started seeing a sudden increase in Omicron cases on Monday – with a 300% increase compared with the day before.
Jok today called on the political representatives in rural Sarawak, such as the state assembly representatives and the longhouse chiefs and village heads, to immediately carry out an Omicron awareness campaign in the rural longhouses and villages.
“They must advise the rural folk not to take for granted the preventive measures like wearing of face masks, personal hygiene observations and social distancing.
“We must not take things lightly. We can never be too sure we will not be infected by Omicron,” he added. – The Vibes, March 3, 2022