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Mandatory 14-day isolation to prevent variants from creeping in

Dr Sim Covid

KUCHING: One of the reasons that Sarawak insists on a 14-day quarantine for those entering the state irrespective of vaccination status is that even if one may have a ‘vaccination passport’, it is not the same as having immunity or an infection-free guarantee. Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian explained that such a policy was implementable by the state due to Sarawak’s immigration autonomy.  “Despite the inconveniences, heartache, and hardships, it is to prevent variants from spreading into Sarawak. “When it comes to (the) virus, we must implement policies like a country,” he said in a Facebook post on Tuesday (June 1).  The Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) advisor said one of the reasons for rolling out vaccinations as fast as possible was to prevent Covid-19 mutations and the formation of variants.  He stressed that what is needed is herd immunity, not just people being registered for vaccinations.  “Thanks to Sarawak’s united war efforts, the spirit of solidarity, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) is able to do genomic surveillance locally in Sarawak to complement the Ministry of Health’s overall Covid-19 strategies,” he said.  Dr Sim said not only Sarawak but the whole of Malaysia needs to do more genomic surveillance, though there is limited expertise and only centres of excellence can perform this. “If you don’t test, you don’t find it. Blissful ignorance is not a blessing in this Covid-19 pandemic,” he said. He pointed out that some of the Covid-19 variants had implications on the vaccines and may partially contribute to the infection waves that Sarawak is facing.  “We need every Sarawakian to help (guard) our air, sea, and land borders until all our neighbours have achieved vaccine herd immunity and no active variant transmissions in their local communities,” he said. 

We are sorry: BDA

BINTULU: Bintulu Development Authority (BDA) has come out with an apology for the inconvenience that occurred in the collection of garbage for the past two weeks. The issue had affected several areas in the division. According to the statement, the service was impacted because some of its operations staff were quarantined. The BDA has already […]

SDMC refuses to end mandatory quarantine

Quarantine

KUCHING: Sarawak will only consider lifting the 14-day mandatory quarantine if the Covid-19 situation in the state in particular and country as a whole has improved satisfactorily or when the measure is no longer necessary. Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said the committee formulated the standard operating procedures (SOPs) […]

RM15 mln per month for hotel quarantine

KUCHING: Starting September last year, the Sarawak government has been spending over RM15 million per month to cover the cost of hotel quarantine for Sarawakians. “This is all borne by the state government and no other state in Malaysia is doing this. That reflects how concerned the state is in trying to protect Sarawakians from […]

Test results confirm zero cases at Rumah Sidah

SARATOK: The mandatory quarantine period for the occupants of Rumah Sidah in Sungai Brangan here ended today as test results had shown no positive cases among its occupants. The results from the second swab tests for 58 occupants of the longhouse as well as 31 students and 11 teachers at SMK Saratok here were also […]

Cabinet ministers should be quarantined too

KUCHING: Cabinet ministers should not be exempted from the mandatory 10-day quarantine, said Sarawak Patriots Association (SPA). “There should not be double standards regarding Covid-19 precautionary measures,” SPA added. “We have also seen several Cabinet ministers testing positive for Covid-19. The virus does not discriminate and anyone can be infected regardless of race, religion or […]

SUPP sec-gen taken by surprise

MIRI: Sarawak United People’s Party Central secretary-general Datuk Sebastian Ting expressed shock and surprise that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong proclaimed a state of emergency in the country until Aug 1 – or an earlier date if the situation improves – to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic. “SUPP was taken aback by the proclamation because we thought, […]

Sarawak records one case

KUCHING: Sarawak recorded one new Covid-19 case in Kuching, bringing the tally of positive cases to 1,085. The Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) explained that Case 1,085 is a local man who returned from Sabah — a high-risk area. The case entered Sarawak through Kuching International Airport (KIA) on Dec 7 and underwent mandatory quarantine […]

Sarawak records one new case

KUCHING: Sarawak recorded one new positive Covid-19 case here today, bringing the total number to 1,075. According to Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC), Case 1,075 is a local female student of Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) who returned to the state from Kota Kinabalu via Kuching International Airport (KIA) on Dec 11. “She underwent an RTK […]

One new imported case today

KUCHING: Sarawak recorded one new imported Covid-19 case in Lawas, bringing the total number of positive cases thus far to 1,068. The Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) said Case 1,068 is a local man, who had just returned from Sabah — a Covid-19 high risk area. It was told that the case worked as a […]