KUCHING: Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) has been urged to take extra precautionary steps by also having VVIPs including politicians coming back to Sarawak to quarantine themselves to reduce the spread of Covid-19 in the state.
Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii made this call in view of the rising cases in Klang Valley with both Kuala Lumpur and Selangor being classified as red zones.
“I believe that when it comes to preventing an infectious disease like Covid-19, there should not be any double standards in the necessary standard operating procedures (SOPs) when it involves politicians or public figures whom due to the nature of their job will meet many people, thus, increasing the risk of spreading the disease,” he said in a Facebook post today (Dec 29).
He said Sarawak has one of the best advantages in terms of controlling the disease in which it has the immigration autonomy to limit those coming in and subject them to quarantine, thus, reducing chances of local transmission, especially for those coming from high-risk areas.
“However, this advantage will be compromised when we start making too many exemptions even for these VVIPs.
“Currently, ministers and politicians coming back to Sarawak need to prove that they are negative for the virus at least three days before. However, the test itself does not guarantee that they will not catch the virus right after they did that test. Maybe when the test was done, the virus is still in its incubation period, thus, it does not show up in the test,” he stressed.
He said the risk is higher, especially if they are in a red zone where the virus is already in the community.
“While I understand that there is a need for certain essential services to go on, I believe for politicians, they can take innovative steps to make sure their work or administrative is done through technology like the Zoom platform without the need to travel either in and out of state often,” he said.
He also said certain opening events or mere ground-breaking events can be postponed, especially when involving people flying over from red zones.
“The federal ministers and deputy ministers based in Kuala Lumpur or Putrajaya can make the arrangements for the time being not to return to the state but allow their team in their respective constituencies to carry out their groundwork.
“I believe our people will understand as this move is to protect and prioritise the health of our people. In the meantime, mere political party meetings in Kuala Lumpur or other high-risk areas should not be considered or categorised as essential services,” he pointed out.
He said when coming back from a red zone, it is important to take necessary safety measures and SOPs, and as public figures, it is crucial to show a good example to others by adhering to the SOPs.
“That is why myself and a fellow Democratic Action Party (DAP) MP decided to take the initiative to self-quarantine the moment we landed in Sarawak after Parliament even though we were given exemption,” he said.
