RM2mil state allocation to purchase paxlovid

KUCHING: Sarawak government will allocate approximately RM2 million to purchase paxlovid in view of the current COVID-19 situation, says Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg.

While the state adheres to the directive from the Health Ministry (MOH), he said the state government must also be well prepared in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

“So yesterday (Tuesday), I had a meeting with Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas (Deputy Premier), we are going to place order on paxlovid.

“Previously there was no paxlovid. Now, we want to make sure that there are stocks of paxlovid in case there is a surge of COVID-19 cases,” he told reporters after the book launching of ‘The Life of Datuk Polycarp Sim Cheng Mong’ at a hotel here today.

Abang Johari added that paxlovid will also be distributed to health clinics throughout the state.

Paxlovid is an antiviral medication that can alleviate the symptoms of COVID-19 and prevent the disease from worsening.

Last Monday, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said Malaysia was not considering reactivating its movement control order (MCO) despite a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases nationwide.

He also said the Health Ministry had prepared a five-point strategy to deal with the recent increase in COVID-19 cases in the country.

This includes early case detection via the Heightened Alert System (HAS), community tracing via TRIIS (test, report, isolate, inform and seek) system, monitoring of health facilities, effective risk communication and digitisation of the health system via the MySejahtera application.

Dr Dzulkefly said COVID-19 numbers have seen a surge nationwide, with 20,696 cases registered between Dec 10 and Dec 16.