Domestic travellers to observe 7-day self-monitoring after release from 14-day quarantine in facility from June 28 onwards

File photo showing rows of beds seen at a quarantine centre.

KUCHING, June 25: Domestic travellers from within Malaysia who enter Sarawak are expected to undergo at least a seven-day self-monitoring period after being released from a compulsory 14-day quarantine at a designated facility.

The State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC), in its latest updates on the Covid-19 situation in Sarawak, announced that this order will take effect from June 28 onwards.

In the latest changes to travel restrictions and procedures into Sarawak, travellers are also required to obtain negative Covid-19 test reports three days prior to their departure into the State.

Travellers also need to apply for entry approval via the EnterSarawak system.

Upon arrival in the State, they will be moved into quarantine for 14 days at designated facilities and swab test will be carried out on the 10th day.

After being released from the two-week quarantine, they are expected to undergo self-monitoring for at least seven days.

Returnees are also urged to get their swab test done from the nearest healthcare facility immediately if they show any symptoms such as fever, cough, sore throats, loss sense of taste or smell, breathing difficulty, headache, fatigue, joint pain or loss appetite.

SDMC has made several changes to the travel regulations and procedures to enter Sarawak following risks assessment that was carried out from time to time.

The decisions implemented, SDMC emphasised were crucial to prevent the spread of Covid-19 variants from outside Sarawak into the State particularly involving variants of concern (VOC) and variants of interest (VOI) that were found to be fast-spreading and increased the risk of deaths.

These travel procedures are imposed to guard Sarawak particular against the high transmissibility and very dangerous Delta B.1.617.2 variant with local cases already reported in Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan, as well as Johor, Negeri Sembilan and Perlis. — DayakDaily

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to correct that domestic travellers are to undergo self-monitoring for at least seven days after release from quarantine, and not home-quarantine.