SIBU, Dec 8: Hotel owners here are urged to register their hotels as Covid-19 quarantine centres.
Senator Robert Lau said currently there is only one hotel in Sibu that serves as a quarantine centre for those arriving from Sabah, while those arriving from Kuala Lumpur are directed to quarantine at home.
“If we look at the whole of Sarawak, only Sibu has one hotel as a quarantine centre, compared to 14 in Kuching and five in Bintulu.
“Therefore, a hotel with a capacity of 150 rooms is not enough because every plane that arrives in Sibu will bring in about 150 people,” he said.
“Imagine if every day there is an inbound flight to Sibu, this is definitely not good. Moreover, they have to undergo a 14-day quarantine.”
He said this when met by reporters after witnessing the handover of a Polymerase Chain Reaction (real time PCR) machine for Covid-19 testing to Sibu Hospital donated by WTK Group at the Sibu Hospital Pathology Laboratory, today.
The contribution was presented by WTK Group Director Datin Sri Annie Wong to Sibu Hospital Director Dr Nanthakumar Thirunavukkarasu.
Meanwhile, Lau was also asked why hotel owners in Sibu did not register their hotels as quarantine centres.
“It is difficult for me to say why they did not do so.
“The government pays for each room at a worthwhile rate if they make the hotel a quarantine centre,” he said.
He acknowledged the insufficient number of quarantine centres in Sibu is causing him to feel more worried about those quarantined at home as this situation is like a time bomb if someone is quarantined at home does not comply with the standard operating procedures (SOP) set.
“That is why I think Sibu needs at least two or three large hotels with a capacity of 500 to 600 rooms to accommodate this number,” he added. — DayakDaily
