Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr James Masing
KUCHING (June 2): A low-risk Covid-19 treatment and quarantine centre (PKRC) should be built in the vicinity of the Baleh hydroelectric dam, said Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr James Jemut Masing.
Masing said this is because the civic centre and indoor stadium that are being used to house Covid-19 positive patients in Kapit division would be running out of space for new patients soon.
“For instance, PKRC should be built within the vicinity of Baleh dam where Covid-19 cluster is found. This will reduce the pressure on the use of civic centre for Covid-19 positive patients,” he said in a statement.
The Baleh assemblyman said that Kapit division would soon be running out of healthcare facilities to treat Covid-19 patients if the present trend of new positive cases continues to rise.
Noting that Kapit Hospital is already full, Masing said patients who are suffering from serious health conditions due to the virus are being treated in the hospital.
Persons-under-investigations (PUI) in Kapit are placed at youth hostel and ‘rumah temuai’, he added.
Thus, Masing said the PKRC should be built in places where Covid-19 cases continue to spike, such as in Kapit town, Bintulu and Miri.
At the same time, he said the current Covid-19 vaccination drive needs to be further accelerated to achieve the herd immunity within the community.
“By building PKRC and aggressive push for vaccination, we are attacking Covid-19 on two fronts. In this way we are in better position to fight the pandemic in a shorter time.”
Once the Covid-19 situation is brought under control, Masing said the buildings built for PKRC could be utilised for other purposes and the money spent would not go into waste.
On Monday, Masing made an appeal to Putrajaya to speed up the Covid-19 vaccination programme, as he had lost his brother and sister-in-law to the coronavirus.
Masing’s brother, Jantai, 63, died in Kapit on Monday, a few days after his wife also had succumbed to the virus.