KUCHING, July 22: Drastic measures such as the temporary ban of all incoming flights into Sarawak is necessary to stop new Covid-19 variants such as the Delta variant from entering and endangering the State, said Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) Youth secretary-general Milton Foo.
Foo reiterated that this is the only effective way to protect Sarawakians against Covid-19 and its variants.
He said the flight ban would only need to last until the end of August when herd immunity in Sarawak is achieved.
“Yesterday (July 21), 76 Delta variant cases were reported with 52 in Kuching. We need drastic actions to close our (Sarawak) borders immediately.
“I therefore urge the Sarawak government to seriously consider border lockdown to prevent flights from entering Sarawak by exercising our immigration autonomy,” he said in a statement today.
Meanwhile, Foo also urged Sarawakians abroad, in Peninsular Malaysia or Sabah not to travel back for the time being as it may put their own lives at risk and jeopardise the lives of the people in Sarawak.
Relatively, he suggested for the Sarawak government to review the policy of bearing quarantine costs for Sarawakians that is encouraging their returns to the State.
The first reports of the Delta variant in Sarawak counted 17 cases in Kuching as of July 4, and the second report yesterday registered additional 52 cases in Kuching from samples taken between June 7 and July 13.
Among the 76 Delta cases throughout Sarawak, one each under the Import-A (from overseas) and Import-B (from other states in Malaysia) categories were detected. — DayakDaily
