SIBU: Despite initial fears, there has been no sharp rise in Covid-19 cases in Sarawak following the 12th state election on Dec 18, says Dr Annuar Rapaee.

       The state Assistant Education, Innovation and Talent Minister said, in a Facebook Live stream on Saturday (Jan 1) night, that the number of positive cases in the state was on the decline instead.

       Dr Annuar, who was also Sibu Divisional Disaster Management Committee coordinator, added that the authorities would continue to monitor the situation.

       "We will continue to monitor over the next two to three days to see whether the state election led to a rise in the number of Covid-19 cases in Sarawak.

       "However, there has been a declining trend in infections in the two weeks since polling day," the Nangka assemblyman said.

       "Sarawak's infectivity rate stands at 0.72RT, which is ranked 16th in Malaysia," he added.

       In another development, he said the committee would reactivate mobile vaccinations to enable people here to get their booster doses.

       According to him, in Sibu, 144,440 individuals, or 72.95% of those eligible, had already received their booster shots.

       Dr Annuar also said that there were only 30 Covid-19 patients being treated at Sibu Hospital.

       "The treatment rate in the intensive care unit (ICU) of Sibu Hospital is only 30% with many patients already discharged after receiving treatment. This is the effect of vaccinations," he said.

       Dr Annuar said data also showed that there were 353 deaths due to Covid-19 in Sibu in 2021.

       He added that as Sarawak entered Phase 4 of the National Recovery Plan, the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee will issue new standard operating procedures (SOPs) on Sunday (Jan 2) with many sectors, including sporting activities, allowed to open again.