KUCHING, Feb 4: Sarawak is temporarily barring all foreigners, irrespective of nationality, who have been to China within the past 14 days, from entering the state effective immediately.
The State Disaster Management Committee today announced the strict measures as part of the Sarawak government’s efforts to stop the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) from spreading further.
All Malaysians, who are non-residents of Sarawak, who have been to China within the past 14 days are strongly advised not to visit Sarawak until the 14-day home quarantine have been fully completed.
They are only allowed entry if not found to have been infected with the novel coronavirus.
All Sarawakians, Sarawakian PRs, as well as Work and Student visa holders who have been to China in the past two weeks must undergo compulsory home quarantine for 14 days.
They will be subjected to random monitoring by relevant authorities.
The committee also revealed that there was no known novel coronavirus infection in Sarawak as of 12 noon today.
As such, these strategies and measures were taken to ensure Sarawak remains free of the deadly virus.
The beefed up measures come on the same day that the first Malaysian, a 41-year-old from Selangor, was confirmed positive for the novel coronavirus, taking the national tally to 10.
The Selangor man was one of the two new cases of novel coronavirus reported in Malaysia as of Feb 3.
Other measures taken by the Sarawak government include Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) being approved to carry out lab tests for the novel coronavirus so as not to delay the results delivery, getting the Public Health College at Kota Sentosa ready as a quarantine centre should the need arise, as well as equipping Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) Complexes with thermals guns for surveillance at land entry points.
From Jan 10 to Feb 3, there were 32 suspected cases in Sarawak with eight cases pending lab tests while 24 cases have tested negative.
Of the eight cases, seven involve Malaysians and one involves a Chinese national. Six of them including the foreigner are in SGH, one in Bintulu Hospital, and one in Miri Hospital. — DayakDaily
