KUCHING, Oct 29: There is no travel restriction to and out of Kuching district for now despite it being declared a Covid-19 red zone area on Tuesday.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, however, advised the people from outside Kuching not to visit the district if they have no pressing or urgent reasons to do so.
“Similarly, for those in Kuching, we hope they will refrain from going to other districts in the state. Stay home stay safe,” he told the media after visiting the operation room set up at the mosque compound at Kampung Haji Baki here where the Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO) had been enforced today.
Minister for Local Government and Housing Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian and State Health director Dr Chin Zin Hing were present.
Uggah, who is also Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman, emphasised that a lot of factors have been considered prior to enforcing the EMCO but it was not a total lockdown which would have banned any inter-district travel.
“The people and the business community will face a lot of hardships in a total lockdown. So we came to a conclusion to do the EMCO in Kampung Haji Baki,” he said of the decision which had been discussed with the Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg.
As for the Green Hill Cluster which recorded 20 positive Covid-19 cases of of yesterday (Oct 29), he informed that an Active Case Detection (ACD) operation will be conducted.
“Those in the Green Hill Cluster, the people are scattered around in the city too. But fortunately many of them have come forward to do testing at private hospitals and clinics on their own,” he added.
In addition, SDMC had also issued a stop operation order to entertainment outlets like bars, lounges, karaoke and pubs as well as public and private gyms while social and official gathering events were limited to a maximum of 200 people only.
All food outlets including restaurants are only allowed to operate until 10pm. These order came into effect yesterday (Oct 29) until further notice. —DayakDaily
