By Adrian Lim
KUCHING, April 12: Bintulu MP Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing urges the Education Ministry to immediately close all schools in Bintulu town for two weeks to halt the spread of Covid-19.
Tiong in a press statement yesterday said primary and secondary schools in the urban areas of Bintulu should be temporarily closed as parents and teachers were worried about the spreading of the coronavirus.
“I call on the Ministry of Education (MOE) to immediately order the temporary closure of schools in Bintulu for two weeks, and use online classes to continue the school curriculum.
“After all, the attendance rate of all schools is currently low due to fears of the pandemic. Teachers and parents alike share this sentiment, and I have stressed that there must be greater concern on the risk of infection,” he said.
Tiong added he will make several suggestions to the Bintulu Divisional Disaster Management Committee (DDMC) to review Covid-19 prevention standard operating procedures (SOPs) to suit the current situation in Bintulu.
These include temporary banning all social gatherings and group activities in urban areas or longhouses, including banquets, association activities, anniversaries, and weddings.
He was also in favour of all leisure activities in Kidurong Beach being temporarily banned, with sports such as running allowed to take place with safe physical distancing.
Besides reviewing the SOPs for all commercial activities including ending business hours at 8pm, he opined that restaurants should also prohibit dine-in and provide only takeaways.
At the same time, Tiong called on businesses in various fields to implement Work From Home orders for at least 70 per cent of their workforce to reduce the flow of people into the urban areas.
He asserted that more than 80 per cent of people in Bintulu agree that a broader Movement Control Order (MCO) must be quickly implemented.
In the meantime, Tiong noted that the Bintulu DDMC will discuss the town’s Covid-19 situation in-depth today to arrive at more stringent SOPs, similar to the Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO).
On another note, Tiong who is also the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) president opined that holding prayer activities can be left to the wisdom of the religious authorities, including the formulation of SOPs and other details related to Covid-19 outbreak prevention as Ramadan approaches.
He asserted that households practising fasting during Ramadan must be encouraged by the authorities to take steps to stay safe by staying home more often, even if this means preparing more meals at home instead of eating out.
“We are hoping that the people would understand the need for these painstaking measures, by continuing to comply with the SOPs and give a higher degree of cooperation with the frontliners.
“Go out only when necessary, and together let’s flatten the curve of Covid-19 infections,” he added.
Meanwhile, Tiong opined that Bintulu’s recent surge of new Covid-19 cases was due to lack of people getting tested for Covid-19 and therefore, Bintulu is forced to implement strict travel SOPs, including requiring rapid test polymerase chain reaction (rt-PCR) tests to be conducted three days prior to entering Bintulu.
“I must once again implore everyone to cooperate during this critical period.
“We must not take the coronavirus lightly, and allow more deaths to occur in Bintulu as a result. The youngest to pass away was 30-years-old.
“We must all work hard to prevent the outbreaks from getting out of hand in order to protect everyone’s health and safety,” he stressed. — DayakDaily
