KUCHING: The Sarawak election, which initially raised concerns of triggering a wave of Covid-19 cases, did not cause a surge.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said this was due to the high vaccination rate among Sarawakians.
“It was found that there was no spike in Covid-19 cases after the state election, the Christmas and New Year celebration.
“The new daily Covid-19 cases, hospitalisation and intensive care unit (ICU) usage showed a drop. The number of deaths has also dropped,” he said in a Facebook post yesterday (Jan 13).
Noor Hisham said as of Jan 9, about 75.6 per cent of Sarawakians have been vaccinated while 62 per cent have received their booster dose.
He also urged Malaysians to get their booster Covid-19 vaccine jabs.
The state polls, which was called following the dissolution of the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly (DUN) on Nov 3 had its polling day on Dec 18.
The Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) ruling coalition was returned with an overwhelming landslide, securing 76 out of 82 seats in the state legislature.
Ceramah (talks), public speeches, and physical campaigns were banned during the polls except for constituencies without strong internet coverage.
The ceramah sessions, limited to only two hours, were prohibited after 10pm. In terms of venues, the sessions were held in enclosed spaces such as community halls or ruai in longhouses to control the attendance of participants.
Speeches at open and public spaces and any campaigning in the form of entertainment were totally banned.
