RT-PCR tests no longer required to enter Bintulu Division, but police permit still mandatory to cross districts

File photo menunjukkan polis memeriksa kenderaan di sebuah sekatan jalan raya.

BINTULU, Sept 18: Fully vaccinated people heading to Bintulu will no longer need to produce negative rT-PCR test results from today (Sept 18) onward.

Bintulu Division Resident Jack Aman Luat announced that the Bintulu Division Disaster Management Committee (DDMC) have decided to follow the instruction issued by the SDMC which had lifted the requirement for rT-PCR and rapid antigen testing for inter-district travel.

“Bintulu like other divisions in the State has to follow the decision of SDMC in which rT-PCR testing are no longer required for individuals who have completed their two-dose Covid-19 vaccines considering that Sarawak has achieved a high vaccination rate.

“However, for individuals who are partially vaccinated with one-dose vaccine, they will need to present a negative rT-PCR test result, apart from police permit, to cross district and enter Bintulu.

“This is to ensure that they are free from the highly contagious disease,” he said in a statement issued today.

Previously, Bintulu was the only division in the State that required every individual to undergo a rT-PCR swab test and to produce a negative result prior to entering the division.

Bintulu DDMC, he pointed out, will leave it to the police in particular to ensure that individuals who have not been fully vaccinated are free from Covid-19 before being given the police permit to travel across districts.

“For the meantime, the existing instructions or standard operating procedures (SOP) related to inter-district movement including entry into Bintulu are maintained and similar to that of other districts in the State,” he reminded.

Meanwhile, SDMC reminded yesterday that a police permit to cross districts in Sarawak remained a mandatory requirement.

According to the SOP for National Recovery Plan (NRP), individuals who have been fully vaccinated 14 days after their second dose of vaccines, commercial vehicles, workers on day trips and essential services are allowed to cross districts subject to obtaining police permits.— DayakDaily