BINTULU: It would be difficult to move on if the people do not persevere and protect themselves against Covid-19, said Bintulu MP Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing.
He said that the onus is on the people’s behaviour which will determine if they will continue to be miserable due to the pandemic or if the situation will improve.
“We have no idea how the virus will mutate or what variants will come in the future.
“But it is certain that we must play our parts all together and shoulder the responsibility of safeguarding the whole community’s health by starting with our families and friends, and make Bintulu free of Covid-19,” he said in a Facebook post yesterday (Sept 14).
Tiong said that he has also constantly warned the people if they are not careful and not disciplined in complying with the standard operating procedures (SOPs), the situation would be worse than before.
“The situation now has been worse than we thought and extremely worrying. I must say I’m seriously anxious and upset,” he said.
He said that on Monday, there were a total of 130 people infected who are under 18 years old, while the rest are under 10 years old with a one-year-old being the youngest.
“In fact, several confirmed cases involved those who had been vaccinated but their condition worsened because they were not treated in time,” he said.
On the extended lockdown at Taman Bandar Jaya, he said he understands that it will financially burden certain groups, especially those who depend on daily wages.
“We sincerely apologise for the trouble the lockdown is causing, but at the same time we also hope for residents’ understanding that this lockdown was done to prevent more people from getting infected,” he said.
Tiong further said that he will also discuss with the Bintulu Health Department to arrange for patients who were confirmed positive in the second round of testing to be isolated along with their close contacts based on analysis of the actual situation so that the lockdown on the area can be lifted as soon as possible.
“Currently, three more people have been confirmed positive. The Health Department will identify further on the identity of the three patients, including whether they are from the same household or from different families.
“From this, we can assess whether it is appropriate to adopt a narrower isolation as a way to lockdown the housing area,” he said.
He added that the Health Department has also expedited the sample testing to deal with the larger load, including processing test samples from other districts in addition to Bintulu’s cases.
“However, even then, there are too many samples to be processed, not to mention the short circuit incident that happened a few days ago, leading to the delay from Taman Bandar Jaya,” he said.
Tiong thus hoped that the residents would understand the severity of the situation and refrain from repeatedly challenging the lockdown measures.
“Everyone must remain rational and patient.”
He also mentioned that the first round of testing for Taman Jade Garden and Joy Park had detected 16 people and two cases respectively, and nearly all of the MV Petra Galaxy vessel crew members were tested positive as well.
