He said certain individuals had claimed on social media that the figures were made up by the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) government to justify the move to proceed with the 12th Sarawak state elections.

“The figures are reported daily by the health ministry. The state government has no hand in this. (Yet), some netizens are accusing the government of manipulation to justify the elections,” he said.

“The state government is right in calling for the (state) election now. We fear the emergence of future new variants as well as the monsoon season, expected from January to February if we wait until next year,” he said.

He was speaking at an agriculture community outreach programme at Kampung Long Bemang attended by Baram MP Anyie Ngau and Telang Usan assemblyman Dennis Ngau of GPS.

Sarawak recorded 239 cases on Tuesday, 192 (Wednesday), 171 (Thursday), 144 (Friday) and 137 today.

Uggah attributed the downward trend to the success of the state vaccination programme, where 90.5% of adults had completed their vaccination, representing 75.5% of its total population. In addition, 634,684 people had received booster doses to date, he said.

Despite this success, Uggah said everyone in Sarawak should continue to comply with SOPs to curtail the spread of Covid-19 in the state, particularly during the elections.

“We must protect ourselves in order to protect our loved ones and all Sarawakians,” he said.

The Election Commission has set Dec 6 for nominations for Sarawak’s 12th state polls, with early voting to take place on Dec 14 and polling on Dec 18.

CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST DATA ON THE COVID-19 SITUATION IN MALAYSIA