PADAWAN: Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian has advised the public not to panic over the Covid-19 outbreak.
“Just follow the updates by the State Disaster Management Committee which is headed by Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas.
“Sarawak, at the moment, has no cases yet and it is everyone’s duty to make sure it has no cases. This virus is very infectious but the chance of dying from it is very low. Therefore, don’t panic.”
He said if the government in Wuhan City did not do anything to prevent the outbreak, 53 million of the people there would have been infected with Covid-19.
“But only one in four persons will go to hospitals while the other three persons have mild conditions.
“And even though they are admitted to hospitals, only 1 out of 10 persons will die. Looking at the bigger scale of 53 million people, if two per cent dies, it is a million people,” he said when officiating at the Padawan Municipal Council (MPP) Chinese New Year open house on Friday night.
On Feb 12, the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned Malaysia to prepare for a wider transmission of the outbreak.
Dr Sim added, at the moment, no other country was as good as China in controlling the virus. However, WHO was worried because the virus had already spread outside China.
“WHO estimates that maybe 60 to 70 per cent of the world population (7 billion people) will be infected.
“Let’s say out of 7 billion, 1 pe rcent dies due to the virus, that is 50 million people,” he said, pointing out that Sarawak’s population is 3 million while Malaysia’s population is 30 million.
Dr Sim added that it was everyone’s job to give proper advice and try to avoid countries that had Covid-19 outbreaks like Singapore and China, as well as telling those who were in those countries not to come here.
He urged all local councils to prepare themselves for any eventualities.
“It is important to work together. I have also spoken to Sarawakians who are in Singapore that if you love your family, don’t come home. You will have many chances to come home once the infection is over,” he said.
