KUCHING: Dr Kelvin Yii has called for more Covid-19 assessment centres and swabbing centres to be set up to ease congestion and long queues at Kuching City South Council (MBKS).
The Bandar Kuching MP said there was a strong need to decentralise the current One-Stop Covid-19 Centre at the MBKS community hall.
“Due to the surge in cases, especially in Kuching, naturally there will be more who will need to get swabbed and tested due to close contact, and that will cause congestion and long waits at the MBKS community hall.
“There are of course concerns that the situation will increase the risk of a possible outbreak due to congestion, especially if standard operating procedures (SOPs) are poorly adhered to.
“I strongly believe that as the need to test more increases, we will also need to increase the number of swabbing centres all around Kuching to spread out the crowd and congestion,” he said in a Facebook post on Monday (Aug 23).
“Fact of the matter, even with such congestion, there is still a strong need to test more, especially in Sarawak. Sunday (Aug 22), we recorded 1772 (cases), but the positive rate is at a staggering 34 per cent.
“That is about seven times the World Health Organisation recommended rate of less than five per cent. Maybe, Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) should report testing numbers by district, especially for Kuching, for us to get a clearer picture of positive rate by district and sub-district.”
Dr Yii also stressed the need to change the approach against Covid-19, especially in view of increasing cases.
“Public health experts have constantly pushed for the incorporation of Rapid Test Kit-Antigen Test (RTK-Ag) into the screening process to reduce reliance on reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) which takes longer time and much more lab-resources.
“Since majority of those coming in are asymptomatic, saliva RTK-Ag can be used to do quick screening and quick isolation whether in low-risk quarantine centres (PKRC) or even proper home-quarantine for those that are able to home-quarantine.
“They then can be monitored for symptoms and disease progression virtually by roping in the general practitioners (GPs) even from the private sector.”
For those unable to isolate themselves in their homes, Dr Yii said better quarantine facilities should be made available by the relevant agencies.
“In order to deal with the surge, there has to be a clear combination of RTK Antigen tests for rapid screening and RT-PCR, and this helps with streamlining of manpower.
“The slow, piecemeal and reactive responses of the authorities in their testing protocols only fostered the sporadic spread of the virus and enhanced the proliferation of the variants of concern, especially the Delta variant.
“This has led to an explosion of new daily cases, overwhelming our hospital facilities and quarantine centres.”
He also called upon the federal and state governments to bulk purchase and bring in stocks of saliva self-test kits, and the kits should be subsidised to make them affordable as well as to ensure enough supplies in the market.
“The government has been too slow to decide on and make self-testing a new normal and incentivise self-reporting to prepare all of us to live with Covid-19 as an endemic.
“They must be proactive to adjust the approach and measure against Covid-19 in view of its changing dynamics, if not, we can never get ahead of the virus and will continue to play catch up.”
