Sarawak Health Director Datuk Dr Mohamed Sapian Mohamed at a press conference. – Photo by Chimon Upon
KUCHING (July 9): Sarawak Health Director Datuk Dr Mohamed Sapian Mohamed said 108 out of the total 406 new cases in the state were from an immigration detention depot, prison and immigration related arrests in Kuching district
Out of the 108 cases, he said 34 were from the Batu Lintang Immigration Detention Depot in Sri Aman (Benteng Sri Aman Cluster) and 56 from Miri Central Prison inmates (Tembok Miri Cluster), while the rest were immigration related arrests here.
He said this during a press conference with Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, who said they had discussed with the authorities over the outbreak at the various detention depots and prisons.
Dr Mohamed Sapian said the authorities had appealed to the Sarawak government to prepare facilities and the state government had agreed to build temporary detention centres amid the pandemic.
Uggah, who is a Deputy Chief Minister, said the standard operating procedures (SOP) had been clear and all should comply with it.
“But sadly, cases still happen. We will look into where we have gone wrong, whether it is the negligence of the officers or any other factors.
“We hope we will be able to correct the mistakes that we have made,” he added.
Responding to a question, Dr Mohamed Sapian said they had taken measures to prevent impersonation cases in light of the Shah Hairil case recently.
He said all frontliners and those who are on duty would be issued a work pass with a serial number, and their names would also be provided to the police personnel on duty.
Their attendance would also be recorded and they would even be asked to present their certificate if need be, he added.
“We will screen through all those getting in and out of the Sarawak General Hospital (SGH). We hope that it won’t happen again,” he added.
On Shah’s case, he said the authorities were still looking into whether the man was involved in other units.
Dr Mohamed however, said that up to today, there was no sign evidence that Shah was involved in other units.
Shah was recently caught falsifying an SGH staff pass and going to SGH 32 times between June 17 and July 1, where he impersonated a doctor.
He was arrested at Stadium Perpaduan on July 1 after a medical staff member there reported him to SGH management and the police.