KUCHING, Oct 2 — Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah hopes that Sarawak would not see a surge in Covid-19 cases if the state election is held soon.
“We do hope when the election comes, we will not be like what happened in Sabah, where there is a sudden surge of Covid-19 positive cases,” said Abdul Karim when speaking during a mooncake festival celebration at Kuching South City Council’s (MBKS) headquarters on Thursday night.
A significant increase of new Covid-19 cases originating from Sabah had been reported in the country after Sabah concluded their state polls on Saturday.
Abdul Karim, who is also State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) deputy chairman, opined the committee had done relatively well in curbing the spread of new Covid-19 cases and most new cases reported in the state were those of imported ones.
Meanwhile, the minister said he was aware that the Mid-Autumn or mooncake festival was an important celebration for the Chinese community worldwide, aside from the Chinese New Year celebration.
“There are some countries which had made mid-autumn festival as public holiday but I hope the Chinese community here does not ask for a public holiday for the festival in Sarawak as we have too many holidays already,” said Abdul Karim in a jest.
During the event, Abdul Karim also announced a financial contribution of RM20,000 from the ministry to The Federation of Chinese Associations of Kuching, Samarahan and Serian Divisions. — Borneo Post
