KUCHING: The first batch of 287 Sarawakian students from Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) arrived here today.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas was present to monitor the students’ arrival and the implementation of the standard operating procedures (SOPs).
He said that of the 287 students, 26 would have to be quarantined at their arrival point here as they would be returning to green zones, while the remaining 261 would be allowed self-quarantine under surveillance at their respective homes as they were from yellow and red zones.
“Our procedure for Sarawakians returning from West Malaysia or overseas is that those who have not undergone quarantine in Kuala Lumpur (KL) would be quarantined at their point of arrival for 14 days.
“Those who have been quarantined in KL would be divided into two groups. If they are returning to green zones, they will be quarantined at their point of arrival for 14 days, and swab tests will be taken on the tenth day,” he told reporters.
He said the second group who had been quarantined in KL would be returning to yellow or red zones, and this batch would be given electronic wristbands and have their daily movement monitored by the Civil Defence Department.
“They will be allowed to be quarantined under surveillance at their respective homes, and on the seventh day we will do swab tests on them,” said Uggah, who is also Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman.
He said he was satisfied with the management of the students’ arrival, describing the process as organised.
Uggah said those returning to green zones had to be quarantined at their point of arrival to ensure that the individuals were really free of Covid-19 in order to protect the green zones.
“We will see how smooth these first two trips go and the capacity of our quarantine, then we will decide finally how to bring everybody back,” he said.
He advised people returning to Sarawak to stay home for their own and families’ wellbeing, urging those who had symptoms to contact the Health Department immediately.
“The sooner we get hold of the positive cases, the sooner we can cut the chain of transmission,” he said.
