By Karen Bong
KUCHING, Oct 8: All Malaysians entering Sarawak from Peninsular Malaysia are required to complete the 14-day mandatory quarantine at designated facilities and undergo Covid-19 tests on the second and 10th day, effective from Oct 10.
State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas announced this today after Sarawak recorded several Covid-19 positive cases involving those returning from Peninsular Malaysia.
“Returnees, except Sarawakians, will have to bear the costs for quarantine and tests themselves.
“The state government will pay for the costs only for Sarawakians,” he said during a press conference to give updates on the Covid-19 situation in the state here today.
Uggah stressed that it was clear that positive cases can emerge due to people not observing quarantines such as the Bah Arnab Cluster which resulted in three cases today, as well as a local case in Bintulu.
“As we have not enforced the mandatory home quarantine for Malaysian returnees, so they can mingle with family and others.
“We understand quarantine is a stringent regulation, (but) these few cases could have been restricted or contained to one case alone if quarantine had been observed. The coronavirus is infectious and can spread so we appeal to people to be more understanding,” he highlighted.
The Deputy Chief Minister added that the measure will be reviewed based on the situation in areas surrounding the state which sits on a ring of fire with neighbouring territories of Sabah, Peninsular Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia all recording a spike in cases.
“It is a challenging issue as we have a long border. It showed that 90 per cent of the cases were imported either from overseas or domestically. As such, we have to tighten the measures to control the imported cases,” he emphasised.
Meanwhile, State Health Department director Dr Chin Zin Hing explained that since Sept 28, Sarawak recorded four Covid-19 cases from Peninsular Malaysia.
“(Then) we did not order them to undergo home quarantine for these cases. So as mentioned by Datuk Amar (Uggah) earlier, we now need to tighten the entry measures.
“We also understand that it will be difficult for them to observe home quarantine without mixing with family members, and other constraints,” he said.
With the tightened measures, Dr Chin explained that they will undergo 14-day mandatory quarantines in designated facilities. — DayakDaily
