BINTULU: The Bintulu Divisional Disaster Management Committee (DDMC) has decided that movement into and out of Bintulu Division is not permitted except for essential services only.
Its chairman Jack Aman Luat said this decision was made after taking into account that Bintulu was still a red zone and also to ensure the spread of Covid-19 can be controlled.
“We try our best by using strict standard operating procedures (SOP) compared to the SOPs in other divisions. Although the SOPs in Bintulu Division are strict, there are still those who are dissatisfied.
“However, the implementation of SOPs is strict because Bintulu Division has been a red zone for a long time and always occupies the top three places (in terms of number of cases in Sarawak). This is a bad thing and we are trying to get out of that position,” he said during a press conference after chairing a Bintulu DDMC meeting on Monday (April 26).
He said now the public were required to undergo a reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rT-PCR) swab test to obtain approval from the Health Office and police permit to cross into the zone or district.
However, Bintulu DDMC also proposed to the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) to implement swab tests on members of the Bintulu community who wished to go outside the zone or district.
“We have implemented the SOP of Covid-19 swab test on the public who enter Bintulu and it has shown to be effective in managing cases from other divisions.
“Bintulu DDMC has proposed to SDMC to also implement swab tests on members of the Bintulu community who exit and enter Bintulu.”
This proposal was made in response to the public who questioned why members of the Bintulu community did not need to undergo rT-PCR tests when they wished to go to other zones or districts.
