Don’t be lulled into complacency by low Covid-19 cases — Fatimah

KUCHING: Sarawakians must be constantly on guard against Covid19 despite the comparatively low number of cases in the state, says Welfare, Community Well-Being, Women, Family and Childhood Development Minister Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah.

She said the people must that heed of what happened in Kampung Haji Baki – the epicenter of the Baki Cluster – which has been placed under Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO) after having recorded 25 positive cases as of yesterday.

“This ( Kampung Haji Baki) may be only one area but if we do not take heed from what has happened, the disease can spread to other villages,” she told a press conference at Baitulmakmur Building II here yesterday.

More than 530 households involving over 4,200 residents at Kampung Haji Baki here will be affected by the EMCO that will come into force from 6pm yesterday until 11.59pm on Nov 10.

Fatimah added there is concern that people in Sarawak or Malaysia for that matter are experiencing ‘Covid-19 fatigue.’

“We have been going through the Covid-19 situation since March this year and for the past few months, we have to practise what we call the ‘new normal.’

“But when this happens for a long time, there is a risk that our people will show Covid-19 fatigue where we feel like we want to get out of this situation we are facing,” she said.

She believed this had led some people to forget to practise the standard operating procedures (SOP) as a general practice to curb the spread of the virus.

“This is what we are concerned about because we must not forget that we have not won the war against Covid-19 so long as we do not have the vaccine.

“We need to make sure that we constantly adhere to the SOP of social distancing, wearing of face masks, practising personal hygiene and not holding or attending large gatherings.”

She empathised with what many people were feeling right now as they could no longer do things such as greeting people with handshakes.

“When we meet people, we tend to want to greet them by shaking hands but now it is different for we can no longer do that.

“Let us sacrifice for now and hopefully, a vaccine can be found soon and from our constant practising of the SOP, we can break the chain of Covid-19 infection,” she said.