Bernama file photo for illustration purposes only.
SIBU (May 16): Assistant Minister of Local Government and Housing Dr Annuar Rapaee has urged everyone to continue working together to ensure that the Covid-19 infectivity rate (R0, pronounced as R-nought) in Sarawak does not reach one.
He noted that currently Malaysia has an R0 of 1.14 and Sarawak at 0.98 which is still at the “dangerous zone”.
“Everyone plays an important role to make sure that the cases can continue to go down and to make sure that R0 will decrease.
“I urge everyone especially during this festive season, and Gawai is coming to be very careful and make sure that we do not reach R0 of 1,” he said during his Facebook live stream last night.
The R0 value refers to the contagion level of a virus. For example, how many individuals can be infected by a positive case. The lower the value, the less likely an infection will take place for each positive case.
“For Sibu, the cases had slowed down at Week 13, then we started to be complacent, so that is why our cases went up again.”
Dr Annuar, who is Sibu Divisional Disaster Management Committee (SDDMC) coordinator, believed with the rolling out of the Covid-19 vaccine, the state will be able to slow down the cases further.
However, he said no one should depend solely on vaccine, because it does not give 100 per cent protection.
Therefore, Dr Annuar said the people must continue to abide by the standard operating procedures (SOP) such as wearing face masks, practising physical distancing and personal hygiene.
Meanwhile, Dr Annuar disclosed that a total of 93,801 people in Sibu have yet to register for Covid-19 vaccination. Thus, he urged them to register for the vaccination as soon as possible.
“Registration is very important because we need to know the data. I will fight so that places that are in hot zone such as Sibu, Bintulu, and Miri to be given the priority to receive the vaccines,” he said.
He also said that the state will receive 500,000 doses of the vaccine soon under the initiative of the state government.
For Sibu, he said the third round of vaccination for the senior citizens will be held on May 18 and May 19.