By Karen Bong
KUCHING, March 12: The five-day quarantine rule may continue to be applied for all international arrivals to Sarawak, even when Malaysia’s international border reopens on April 1 as the country begins to transition into the Covid-19 endemic phase.
In sharing this, Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) chairman Clarence Ting said that it is unlikely that Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) will follow the entire Federal government’s border reopening rules, particularly the lifting of quarantine for fully vaccinated international travellers.
“I think SDMC may not follow the Federal guidelines, but we will have to wait for the authorities to study the details of the standard operating procedures (SOPs) before coming up with a final decision which they will announce later.
“But I think we might continue with the five-day quarantine (for international travellers),” he said during Kuching South City Council (MBKS) mayor Dato Wee Hong Seng’s 102nd ShallWeeTalk live session today.
Ting also pointed out that the Covid-19 situation in Sibu was “not that good”, given that many SMC staff and people have been infected in recent days.
He also opined that the number of people infected with Covid-19 could be higher than the official figures, as there could be those who tested positive by self-testing but did not report to MySejahtera while conducting self-quarantine.
“Last week, we (SMC) had many staff members who tested positive. So we had to sanitise the entire building on Friday.
“I have been doing daily self-testing because I have so many close contacts that I lose count of the number,” he added.
With that, Ting said all meetings in SMC have been reverted to using Zoom to prevent any disruption to the council’s operations if many staff members are down with the virus and have to undergo quarantine.
Wee added that MBKS has also gone back to remote meetings due to the situation.
Ting and Wee thus urged the public to maintain self-discipline and to strictly adhere to Covid-19 safety rules to protect not only themselves but, more importantly, people in high-risk categories.
“I must share here that many elderly people with Covid-19 have had bad experiences. While we know that Omicron may be less severe and that young people may be able to fight it, it is difficult for the elderly to cope.
“So, please practise self-discipline. It is crucial not to bring the virus to spread to high-risk groups, including the elderly and children, especially those who are unvaccinated,” Ting reminded. — DayakDaily
