By Karen Bong
KUCHING, Sept 30: The night curfew will be lifted and business operating hours will be extended until 12 midnight across Sarawak from Oct 1 onwards as the entire State enters Phase 3 of the National Recovery Plan (NRP).
Previously under Phase 2, a 12am curfew was imposed, where members of the public were not allowed to be in public places after midnight without a valid reason.
As per the latest NRP Phase 3 standard operating procedures (SOP), operating hours for businesses have been lengthened by two hours and they can operate from 5am to 12 midnight.
A statewide mask mandate will remain in place and children below the age of 12 are still not allowed to be out in public, open and crowded places without reasonable excuses, while high-risk individuals are discouraged from going outside.
Even though various restrictions have been eased and more economic activities are set to resume, people are urged to limit their movement to carrying out official duties, for work, obtaining essential daily needs, buying food and medicines, seeking healthcare or medical treatment, attending vaccination appointments, and providing essential services.
A police permit is still compulsory for inter-district and inter-state travel especially for personal travel and permission to enter Sarawak is subject to approval by the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) through the EnterSarawak app and eHealth declaration.
Movement across districts for commercial vehicles, public transportation and government official duties are allowed for individuals who have been fully vaccinated.
Workers who commute between different districts will need to obtain a police permit or authorisation letter from their respective employers.
Businesses should ensure crowd control measures are strictly followed by continuing to limit the number of customers or patrons into their premises in compliance with physical distancing measures of at least one metre.
Individuals with symptoms such as a fever with a body temperature exceeding 37.5 degrees Celsius, or suffering from a flu or cough are not allowed to enter any premises.
Only fully vaccinated customers with ‘Low Risk’ including ‘Casual Contact Low Risk’ status in their MySejahtera app will be allowed to enter premises.
Those with ‘Close Contact’, ‘Person Under Surveillance’ and ‘Patient Under Investigation’ are not allowed to enter any premises and must be reported to the respective District Health Offices immediately.
Businesses are required to display the maximum number of customers allowed into the premises at any one time which has been approved by the local authorities. — DayakDaily
