KUCHING: It is mandatory for all offshore oil and gas workers to undergo a 14-day quarantine order before heading for the sea.
This is the latest directive by the State Disaster Management Committee to contain the spread of Covid-19.
“There are offshore workers from Labuan or Kuala Lumpur. Before they go offshore, they must be quarantined in Sarawak before they are allowed to work,” said Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, who is chairman of the committee.
“We are worried that if they are not quarantined, they might carry the virus to their rig. That would be a very serious matter.”
He said because the rig was quite far away, one Covid-19 positive case would cause a big problem.
Uggah also said no inter-district travel in the state is allowed.
“Exemptions are only for emergency cases and those with valid reasons,” he said, adding that the state would come up with a way to increase the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing capacity for Covid-19 in Sibu and Miri.
On when the state would have mobile clinics to conduct checks in areas that are far from the main hospitals, he assured that the tests would be facilitated soon.
He added as what Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian had done was add services from Unimas and Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) to make sure there was enough facilities to carry out the PCR tests.
