Dr Annuar (second right) symbolically hands over milk powder packet to a representative from Sibu Welfare Department, while (from second left) Wong, Sempurai and others look on.
SIBU: Dr Annuar Rapaee is satisfied with the first round of Covid-19 screening at flats and Town Villa houses in Sibujaya, which yielded a positivity rate of 3.14 per cent, far better than that of the guidelines provided by World Health Organisation (WHO).
The Sibu Divisional Disaster Management Committee (SDDMC) coordinator said 6,493 samples were collected from residents of the flats and Town Villa houses which were placed under Enhanced Movement Control (EMCO), of which 204 were positive for Covid-19.
“Our positivity rate of 3.14 per cent is far better than WHO guidelines of less than five per cent. It shows the number of swabs done at this EMCO area is very sufficient,” he added.
In this regard, he thanked the residents for their cooperation in curbing the spread of the coronavirus.
“We are very appreciative of the good cooperation from the residents in these two places where 6,493 of them have been swabbed.
“This also reflects the two residential areas as rather congested which in part contributed to the spread of the virus,” Dr Annuar, who is Assistant Minister of Local Government and Housing, said.
He told reporters this after a brief ceremony to hand over 300 packets of milk powder donated by Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) Dudong branch to the flat residents at Sibu Rural District Office (SRDC) library in Sibujaya yesterday.
Also present were SUPP Dudong branch chairman Wong Ching Yong and SRDC chairman Sempurai Petrus Ngelai.
Dr Annuar said the second round of swab test will start soon as there may still be positive cases yet to be detected.
He stressed that the second round of this exercise is crucial to determine the number of positive cases and plan out the next course of action.
“We want to know where the positive cases are detected and whether the lockdown will be extended or only certain parts will continue to be locked down.
“We do not want anyone (in these two places) to miss out on the second round. This is because a person can test negative in the first test but positive in the second test.
“So, that is why we do not want anyone to be left out for fear if this person is positive later, he can transmit the disease to others and we are then back to square one. We do not want this to happen.”
The flats and Town Villa houses in Sibujaya are currently placed under the EMCO from Feb 12 until Feb 25 to break the chain of virus infection.
Dr Annuar did not discount the possibility of the EMCO imposed in zone 7 (Tiong Hua) if high number of positive cases is detected. The results from zone 7 are expected to be known in a day or two, he added.
He pointed out that zone 15 Sentosa has also come under close watch due to the number of cases of recorded there.
He, however, observed the trend in Tiong Hua and Sentosa zones differed from that of the two localities in Sibujaya.
“Which is why, we implemented targeted Active Case Detection (ACD) at these zones to determine the magnitude of the spread,” Dr Annuar said.
He was happy to note the good response from people in Zone 15 Sentosa for the screening at Bukit Lima Nature Reserve, as well as Zone 28 (Permai) and Zone 29 (Jeriah) at Permai Lake Garden yesterday.
Meanwhile, Wong said he was aware that the Welfare Department had distributed milk powder to children living in the Sibujaya flats which are under EMCO.
“The donation today (yesterday) is only complimentary. I thank Kebajikan (Welfare Department) for their very sympathetic gesture and assistance,” he added.