KUCHING: Not taking any risks particularly in terms of healthcare facilities and logistics, the state’s strict conditions for entry into Sarawak shall remain enforced.
Assistant Minister for Education, Science and Technological Research Dr Annuar Rapaee said the biggest concern was if the Covid-19 pandemic was to worsen here.
“This would be too much of a burden on our healthcare services because our state is so vast. We might not be able to cope. That is why we are very stringent and we have to take into account our health facilities,” he said.
He said this in response to a question raised when he was officiating at the closing ceremony of the ‘The Voice of the Brains’ Youth Debate Competition organised by Sarawak Muslim Students Welfare Association (Perkepis) today.
The question brought up was when will Sarawak fully reopen its borders without imposing quarantine and swab tests for those entering the state.
“We have deliberated this in our meeting, but we have not yet reached a conclusion because we are still assessing our situation,” he said.
Pointing out that cases in the state were still fluctuating, he said they did not want to take the risk and relax entry restrictions just yet.
Annuar, who is also Assistant Minister of Local Government and Housing, said Sarawak had a different approach to curbing Covid-19 compared to other places.
“When one positive case is identified, we look at every close contact and quarantine these close contacts and test them two times. We would then enforce a lockdown in specific areas.
“In other words, we are actively detecting cases and must not wait until cases develop symptoms.
“There are many patients with Covid-19 who are asymptomatic,” he said.
Commenting on how some places may have the approach of only testing persons who exhibit symptoms, Annuar said, “With this approach, they will miss a lot of people who are without symptoms.
These people can still transmit the virus to others, especially the elderly.” he concluded.
