KUCHING, Jan 28: The Sarawak government has been urged to consider exercising its autonomous powers over immigration by restricting the entry of all passengers from China into the state via airports.
Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP) Youth central secretary-general Milton Foo proposed this includes those who have been travelling to any part of China within the past 14 days.
“However, Sarawakians who have spouses or families from China can be exempted and (entry made) conditional. In view of the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak in China and worldwide, it is the state government’s responsibility to protect the welfare of the people by taking precautionary measures and prevent the outbreak from spreading further,” Foo said at a press conference today.
Apart from self-declaration upon arrival by every passenger at entry points in all airports in Sarawak, he suggested that those exempted can practise self-quarantine at home and report his or her health condition to the Health Department on a daily basis for the subsequent 14 days after arrival.
“With modern technology from mobile phones, self reporting can be done even through WhatsApp. They can and must monitor their own health and that of their family members by giving the Health Department a 14-day daily health report,” Foo asserted.
He noted that currently Sarawak does not have direct flights to or from China.
Passengers traveling to or from China will need to transit via Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu, Brunei or Singapore.
Meanwhile, referring to a World Health Organisation (WHO) assessment on the risk of the Wuhan virus, Foo said it has not changed since the last risk assessment conducted on 22 January, where risk is very high in China, not just at a regional level (Asia Pacific including Malaysia) but also global level.
“Thus Sarawak falls under the high risk category. As a responsible government, the lives of all Sarawakians is the paramount consideration and we should take drastic steps and all preventive measures to stop the spread of the said deadly virus into Sarawak without further delay,” Foo said.
As at Jan 26, according to WHO, the number of reported confirmed cases of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) has increased by 694 cases and a total of 2,014 confirmed 2019-nCoV cases has been reported globally.
Of the 2,014 cases reported, 1,985 cases were reported from China, including Hong Kong (5), Macau (2) and Taipei (3).
Twenty-nine confirmed cases have been reported outside of China in ten countries namely Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, Nepal, USA and France.
Of these 29 exported cases, 26 had a travel history from Wuhan, China.
Fifty-six deaths have been reported with 52 deaths in Hubei province and four from outside Hubei. — DayakDaily
