By Lian Cheng
KUCHING, Jan 11: There are in total 47 longhouses under lockdown in Sarawak as of today.
Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said that this is a step taken to contain the spread of Covid-19.
“To check Covid-19 spread, a few steps have been taken. These include lockdown of six longhouses in Kapit, 21 longhouses in Sibu, 10 longhouses in Dalat, one longhouse in Sri Aman, one longhouse in Lubok Antu, two in Julau and Sebauh, six,” said Uggah at Covid-19 press conference held at Old State Assembly Complex here today.
He said these 47 longhouses in Sarawak are in lockdown for 14 days.
“All residents of these longhouses are not allowed to leave their longhouses,” said Uggah.
Uggah, who is also Deputy Chief Minister, said SDMC of divisional or district level will work together with all the agencies, including the Welfare Department to provide food for these longhouse folks.
He said that SDMC has gained substantial experience in managing lockdown, and with that experience, he believed that SDMC is able to manage lockdown of longhouses in various parts of Sarawak well.
“This will be like the lockdown at Kampung Haji Baki,” he said.
He said lockdown is a necessary step for SDMC to take so as to break the chain of Covid-19 spread.
“We are forced to do this, the lockdown, because only through this way, we can seal off the possible spread of the Covid-19,” said Uggah. — DayakDaily
