KUCHING: The Sarawak government will come out with a new guideline on dealing with returning Sarawakians placed under quarantine at designated hotels in the state.
State Disaster Management Committee deputy chairman Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said based on feedbacks, the hotel rooms used for quarantine may not be enough to cater for these Sarawakians classified as person under surveillance (PUS).
“By tomorrow or the day after we will announce the new guideline for those who are quarantined at the designated hotels in the state,” he said during a daily update on Covid-19 yesterday.
He suggested that once the PUS cases arrived and quarantined at the hotels, and when their test result come back negative for Covid-19, they could go home but must continue the 14-day self-quarantine at home.
“Ramadhan is coming and there are many students who are in other states or overseas who would want to return to be with their families, and when they return the hotel rooms might not be enough to cater for them.
“So we will study the situation and come out with the guidelines soon,” he said.
He also said there was insufficient QR code wristband to cater to the increasing number of PUS cases.
“Sarawak Multimedia Authority (SMA) is ordering more of the wristband and it will take time to arrive.
“The wristband is important so that the PUS will wear it and prevent them from getting out of the hotel rooms or run away,” he explained.
He urged the PUS to strictly obey the quarantine order otherwise action would be taken against them.
Abdul Karim said as of yesterday, there were a total of 712 Sarawakians who have returned from Malaya, Sabah, Labuan and overseas, classified as PUS and under quarantine at the designated hotels.
He disclosed that in Kuching, there are 107 PUS placed in Lee Hotel, Grand Dormani Rajah Court (87) and Kuching Park Hotel (78).
In Bintulu, there are 16 PUS in Warisan Inn and another 126 in Park City Everly Hotel. In Miri, 89 PUS are quarantined in Mega Hotel, Somerset Hotel (45), Ostay Inn (11), Cosy Inn (11), Imperial Palace (63), while in Limbang, 79 PUS are quarantined in Purnama Hotel.
