MIRI, Oct 7 — Telang Usan assemblyman Dennis Ngau has urged the authorities to implement roadblocks to check movement into Baram so as to prevent the spread of Covid-19 among its vulnerable rural population.
He pointed out that Baram have been a Covid ‘green zone’ since the outbreak of the virus this year.
“We have to work closely with the police, and I hope the police can re-instate the roadblock to screen those entering Baram,” he said.
He admitted that the people in Telang Usan, a state constituency in Baram, were jittery after a villager in Bario was tested positive for Covid-19 this month.
The villager had passed through Telang Usan by road at least twice when travelling between his village in Bario and Miri before he was tested positive in Sungai Buloh in Selangor on October 1
Dennis pointed out that the case drove home the reality that the virus was a threat due to the access provided by roads.
“We cannot become complacent until the world is declared safe from Covid-19 virus even though we are in the ‘ulu’ (upriver) like Baram, “ he said.
Asked if anyone in Telang Usan had been contacted by the health authorities for a swab test in connection with the Bario resident, he said the district disaster committee and the health authorities has indicated none so far.
“No one knows where he stopped at any place in Telang Usan along the way but if he did, he must have informed the health authorities when they did contact tracing,” he said, urging the people not to be unduly worried.
State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas yesterday said the Covid-19 tests had been conducted on 145 people in Pa’ Dalih, Bario and Miri, in connection with the recent case, have all returned negative.
Samples were taken from 117 residents of Kampung Pa’ Dalih, eight family members and 20 social contacts of the Covid-19 positive case reported by the Sepang District Health Office in Selangor.
SDMC is still investigating the source of infection of the case. — Borneo Post
