By Karen Bong
KUCHING, Aug 20: There will be no dining-in at eateries and business operation hours will be shortened to 8pm, while a 10pm curfew for one week will be enforced in Sarawak’s Southern Zone effective from Aug 22 to 29.
The districts in the Southern Zone include Kuching, Lundu, Bau, Serian, Tebedu, Samarahan, Asajaya and Simunjan.
The State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC), in its daily updates on the Covid-19 situation in Sarawak, emphasised that the decision to retighten the existing standard operating procedures (SOP) for Southern Zone came due to the surge in new positive cases and clusters of late.
Today, Covid-19 cases in Sarawak burst past the 2,000-mark, an all-time high of 2,548 cases since the virus spread to our shore in March 2020.
Among the restrictions as measures to stop the spread of Covid-19 and control further outbreaks include temporary banning of in-person dining at all food and beverage (F&B) outlets.
The business operation hours have also been shortened from 5am until 8pm.
A night curfew from 10pm to 5am will also kick in as individuals and groups of people will not be permitted in public places without reasonable excuses.
These latest restrictions, which will take effect on Aug 22 at 12.01am until Aug 29 at 11.59pm, come just a month after it had been allowed.
SDMC pointed out that tough decisions needed to be made to respond and tackle the Covid-19 in the State from time to time in accordance with the situation.
Social activities as well as increased social mixing and mobility have largely contributed to the spike in the number of new cases in the State with four-digit infections on Aug 16 (1,566 cases), Aug 18 (1,403 cases) and yesterday (1,206 cases).
On Aug 12, State Health director Datuk Mohamed Sapian Mohamed emphasised that SOP flouters were the main cause which led to the spike of Covid-19 in Sarawak.
These violators attended social and family gatherings such as birthdays, farewell celebrations, funerals, prayers, group sports activities and various kinds of physical meetings that have also sparked workplace infections.
He also took a swipe at people who continue to gather in public places and chat at eateries without wearing face masks.
The State authorities have repeatedly reminded people that Sarawak is still not out of the woods yet and until then, everyone must be on highest alert and vigilance.
They must continue to take SOP and any Covid-19 safety and precautions seriously including wearing face masks, keeping a distance from others, practising a high standard of hygiene, and most importantly limiting their time spent outdoors and avoiding social activities and gatherings. — DayakDaily
