SIBU: Only one out of 23 people who tested positive for Covid-19 in a public screening here is not contactable by the health authorities, says a Sarawak assistant minister.
Dr Annuar Rapaee, the Assistant Local Government and Housing Minister, said on Wednesday (Jan 20) that the health authorities are now on a manhunt for the person.
He said this while refuting a report quoting state Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian that the 23 persons could not be contacted for various reasons.
According to Dr Annuar, from their records, 10 of the 23 persons are already in Sibu Hospital. Out of the 10, nine were there for treatment on Jan 17 and the other one was warded at the same hospital the next day.
"They are already in hospital, so they are not unreacheable, uncontactable or untraceable. Out of the 10, one of them is a foreigner who was referred there by a private hospital," he clarified.
As for the remaining 13, he said four of them were in the lockdown area in Pasai Siong, which is the epicentre of the sudden spike in Covid-19 transmission.
The four of them, he said, are on their way to Sibu Hospital.
"We managed to contact another eight of them yesterday and they are also on their way to the hospital.
"As at 11.30am Wednesday (Jan 20), there was only one who was not contactable as the phone was not in service," he said.
In regard to this, Dr Annuar strongly advised those who have undergone the polymerase chain reaction screening to make themselves reachable and traceable via phone.
"What is the point of doing the swab test if you are not contactable?" he asked.
The Nangka assemblyman said the report of the missing 23 persons had made the public feel unsafe.
He said that since Jan 11, about 12,000 people here have had their swab test.
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