KUCHING, May 2: Muara Tuang assemblyman Datuk Idris Buang viewed that it was vital for the Movement Control Order (MCO) to be extended for another two to three weeks in Sarawak in the interest of the safety and health of the people before restrictions could be eased.
“The Covid-19 curve has not flattened yet. The figures and data do not support any relaxing of the measures in MCO.
“Most worrying thing is that the cases in Sarawak are predominantly sporadic and it seemed to suggest that they are mostly ‘locally transmitted’ or in other words not from any imported cluster,” he explained in a statement today.
Idris thus commended the wise move of the state government as mentioned by Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg that the state would need to assess the situation in Sarawak before considering to follow the federal government’s ruling in imposing conditional MCO to reopen economic activities.
“It is too soon to open up in any way, anything at the moment. Some experts in the field may vouch the basis of this fear of rebounds and further compounding of the problems that could ensue with even more resilient new mutated version of the virus,” he added.
He was referring to the situation in Hokkaido, Japan and Harbin, China which are facing a new wave of the virus after prematurely lifting their lockdown.
“I beseech the state government to consider maintaining the present guidelines and standard operating procedure (SOP) of MCO or even tightening and beefing up the efforts to enforce it.
“As an adage truly says, ‘it is better to be safe than sorry’. Equally true ‘prevention is better than cure!” he emphasised.
Meanwhile, Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) today announced that Sarawak will maintain the guidelines and SOP imposed under Phase One to Three of the MCO for the time being.
As such, Sarawak will not be following the decision made by the federal government to reopen most economic activities on Monday (May 4).
SDMC chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas emphasised that the state government has decided to study the implications of the reopening of such economic activities, which sectors to open, when and to what extent they will be allowed to open.
He added that SDMC must ensure that the reopening of the economic activities and sectors would suit Sarawak circumstances.—DayakDaily
