Zoning strategy for Sibu town to help counter any Covid spike

SIBU: The divisional disaster management committee here is adopting a ‘zoning’ strategy for Sibu town to facilitate measures to address any reported spike in Covid-19 cases, said Local Government and Housing Assistant Minister Dr Annuar Rapaee.

“We agreed to zoning Sibu town to make it easy for us to plan an effective strategy if that particular zone shows a surge in cases.

“For example, if Lanang area recorded an increase in the number of cases, we will carry out mass screening there like that in Sibu Jaya today (yesterday),” he said during a Facebook Live session hosted by Sibu Municipal Council chairman Clarence Ting yesterday, which also featured Sarawak General Hospital infectious disease specialist Dr Chua Hock Hin.

Dr Annuar also urged Sibu folk to discard the mentality that Covid-19 cases reported here are only confined to longhouse areas, cautioning that such thinking would only encourage the people to let their guard down.

He cited the latest statistics which showed that only 27 per cent of Covid-19 cases reported here in the last few days involved longhouses, while about 70 per cent were detected in Sibu town.

“The majority of the reported cases in Sibu now are not at longhouses. To me, the virus has already assimilated into the Sibu community and no longer confined to longhouse areas.

“Therefore, it is very important for all of us to not assume that we (in town) are alright thinking that cases are only reported in longhouse area,” he stressed.

The Nangka assemblyman said there was no point dwelling on whether the authorities could or should have done more to prevent folks whose longhouses had been placed under lockdown, from escaping.

“Yes, maybe we should have stopped this earlier and it might have been successful. It does not matter now as the important thing is to work concertedly to contain the spread of the virus,” he said.