Voon Shiak Ni
KUCHING (Sept 20): The Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) should engage community leaders such as longhouse chiefs to better disseminate information related to Covid-19, said social activist Voon Shiak Ni.
“We are concerned over the numbers of brought-in-dead (BID) cases for the past couple of weeks and it is important for communities to be informed of the importance of seeking early medical assessment as to whether their symptoms are linked to Covid-19,” said Voon in a statement.
Voon said she supported the call by Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas for everyone to be cautious and to seek early medical treatment if one is experiencing fever, sore throat, cough or flu like symptoms for a few days.
“I also urge all who experience the loss of smell and taste to seek medical assessment and treatment immediately as loss of smell and taste are obvious symptoms of Covid-19.”
Voon said community leaders should also be engaged to facilitate villagers who are unwell to have access to healthcare as soon as possible.
“Getting community leaders as the focal point to assist the rural communities to get medical help and it can ease a lot of confusion on the ground in coping with cases where villagers are sick but not attended.”
Voon said outreach awareness programmes can also be organised to train the public on how to monitor their health conditions with the testing equipment provided and to take note of when medical intervention is necessary.
“It is good news that the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob has just announced that ‘Covid-19 Care Package’ which include test kits, pulse oximeters, face masks and thermometers will be supplied to all the 3.6 million bottom 40-per-cent income group (B40) households by the government.”
In addition, Voon said a statewide campaign via daily radio broadcasting and television broadcast can be done to promote awareness and urgency for people to be on alert for Covid-19 symptoms and to seek medical care immediately, if necessary.
Although vaccination has been proven effective to face the pandemic, Voon said there is still a high risk of Covid-19 cases surging in the community if the recommended precautionary measures are not observed.