See Chee How
KUCHING (Aug 20): Batu Lintang assemblyman See Chee How has urged the state government to make Sarawakian homes the safe havens for children.
The Parti Sarawak Bersatu lawmaker made this call yesterday in light of the spread and transmission of Covid-19 including its Delta variant in Sarawak having reached an alarming and critical level.
He said the week-to-week number of positive cases detected was a huge jump from 5,081 (Aug 6 to 12) to 7,413 (Aug 13 to 19), marking an increase of 46 per cent.
“However, more positive cases should and could have been detected if more tracing had been conducted because the average positive rate had been increased from 12.8 per cent to 15 per cent,” he said in a statement.
Quoting the Institute of Health and Community Medicine (IHCM) of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas), See said the Delta variant detection rate in Sarawak had increased sharply from 50 per cent on Aug 3 to 73 per cent statewide and 90 per cent in Kuching Division on Aug 10.
“It is worrying because the Covid-19 rates climb as the Delta variant spreads rapidly throughout Sarawak and the figures have shown that it is very likely for a fully vaccinated person to be infected by the Delta variance and pass it on other vaccinated person and those not vaccinated.
“It is of significant concern to Sarawak because the Ministry of Health (MoH) had revealed that as of Aug 10, Sarawak has recorded 272 Delta variant cases, out of 424 cases nationwide. For the next five days, another 43 Delta variant cases have since been recorded,” he pointed out.
He observed that scientists and health experts had been on high alert to watch out on the viruses mounting another metamorphosis to become even more transmissible or even better at evading resistance following the global concern on the Delta variant.
“My biggest concern is the disclosure by the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) advisor Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian that a total of 832 cases of the Covid-19 positive cases were recorded in Sarawak from Aug 1 to 12 were young children aged six and below.
“And there were 773 cases aged between seven and 12 and 673 other cases aged between 13 and 17 recorded during the same period. Together, they amounted to 2,278 cases or 29.29 per cent of all the cases detected in those 12 days,” he said.
According to See, it is dreadful to realise that it remains unknown what are the long-term health effects of being infected with the Covid-19 virus, especially for young children.
Given this, he said the Sarawak government, SDMC and MoH must quickly devise a plan and strategy to safeguard the health of Malaysian children aged 18 who remain unvaccinated.
“Since the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Authority (NPRA) has approved the Pfizer-NTech Covid-19 vaccine for those aged 12 and above, and it is in the revised National Immunisation Programme to vaccinate these children, the Sarawak government must quickly demand for the immediate vaccine rollout in Sarawak to inoculate the 240,000 children within the age range of 12 to 17.
“It makes no sense to wait for national exercise to vaccinate all children aged 16 and 17 in September and those aged 12 to 15 thereafter. Since the highly transmissible Delta variant is found mostly in Sarawak, we must immediately inoculate our Sarawakian children since the Pfizer-NTech Covid-19 vaccine are available now,” he asserted.
As such, See urged the state government to immediately procure 500,000 doses of Pfizer-NTech Covid-19 vaccine, either from the national health body or other suppliers, to commence the inoculation exercise at once.
He said Sarawak needs to inculcate and raise the awareness of Sarawakian parents on the need to create a safe haven in their homes for the safety and health of their children.
“The adults may be fully vaccinated and though it may decrease the risk of severity and deaths on infection, they should always be reminded that the children at home are not vaccinated and are at risk upon infection. Therefore, we have to be on high alert when we return home from work or activities outside.”
In view of this, he suggested that adult Sarawakians – even after they reach home – wear clean masks and disinfect themselves before entering their residence, immediately go for bath and put their clothes in the laundry before coming into contact with their children at home.
“Let us all play our part in safeguarding and protecting our children from the harm of the Covid-19 virus and its variants. They are invaluable assets to our future and the future of Sarawak,” See added.