SIBU, Jan 22: Should Movement Control Order (MCO) in Sibu which ends on Jan 29 be extended?
Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob had on Jan 21 said the MCO for Penang, Selangor, Melaka, Johor, Kelantan Sabah and three Federal Territories have been extended to Feb 4 following a significant number of Covid-19 cases recorded over the past 14 days.
The question is whether Sibu should follow suit when positive cases continue to soar. There has been a mixed reaction to the matter.
A retiree, Roy Ting, is in support for an extension of the MCO.
“Certainly yes, it needs to be extended. By how many weeks, it depends on how well can the Covid-19 be controlled in Sibu Division,” he asserted.
Ting feared that cases will continue to rise as the people here are taking things too easy despite the town being in the red zone.
“I think the public still do not care much about MCO 2.0 because there are still many cars roaming around in town,” he said.
He called for tighter and stricter enforcement from the enforcement authorities.
Meanwhile a shipping executive, Albert Tay, 54, is against any extension of the MCO for Sibu.
“This pandemic has left everyone greatly affected and there is no clear end of the tunnel as yet,” he said.
Tay said instead of going for an extension, curbing the spread of infections is of the utmost importance with the cooperation from all quarters.
“However, that said it is heartening to see that most of Sibu residents are doing their part. Strict standard operating procedures (SOPs) at all time have mostly been followed.
“People are taking this very seriously this time as the outbreak has been scary. With the cooperation from all in the fight against the disease, MCO need not necessary be extended,” he added.
A jewellery shop owner, Alex Tiong, concurred with Ting.
“If there are only a handful of cases, an extension of the MCO is therefore not warranted. But currently the situation here is very worrying as at one time there are over 100 cases in a day,” he said.
Though he could not open his shop during this MCO which was enforced since Jan 16, Tiong said an extension of the MCO would help to flatten the curve. — DayakDaily
