KUCHING: The district of Kuching has been declared a red zone after 53 Covid-19 cases have been detected within the past two weeks.
State Disaster Management Committee chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said the increase in numbers came following the detection of 16 locally transmitted cases here yesterday.
“Serian District has changed its status from green to yellow when two new locally transmitted cases were reported there.
“Lundu District has also changed its status from green to yellow when one new locally transmitted case was reported.
“Bau District remains yellow with one locally transmitted case reported in the last 14 days,” he told a press conference yesterday.
He said there is only one red zone in Sarawak which is Kuching; four yellow zones — Samarahan, Serian, Bau and Lundu; and 35 green zones.
He noted that an area is declared red when it has more than 40 cases, yellow for one to 40 cases, and green when there are no cases.
On Monday, SDMC announced that business hours in Kuching, Samarahan and Serian Divisions will only be fixed for between 6am and 10pm.
On that note, Uggah re-emphasised that the reduced hours of business only applies to Zone 1 which covers Kuching, Samarahan and Serian.
“It is indeed very sad that we have to yet again impose such a ban. We understand that businesses will be badly affected by this ban, but it is necessary for us to control the spread.
“SDMC are working very hard with the relevant agencies and industry players to find a balance between the health of the people and the economic health of the state,” he said.
“I beg everyone to understand and bear with us. We are implementing policies and standard operating procedures (SOPs) to protect everyone.
“We would like to thank those who are making sacrifices to meet the same goal of cutting the chain and flattening the curve. The war is not over. Let’s stay vigilant and stay safe.”