KUCHING: The Bintulu Divisional Disaster Management Committee (DDMC) will consider moving forward the curfew time in town from 8 pm to 6 pm.
An alternative is to re-implement the movement control order (MCO) if members of the public continue to defy the conditional movement control order (CMCO) enhanced standard operating procedures (SOPs).
Bintulu MP Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing said any business in the district could only operate until 8pm and with all businesses closing at that time, there should not be any social activities except for emergencies or medical issues.
“But the fact is that, there are still plenty of people out and about late at night and vehicle traffic has not decreased.
“Worse is that there are entertainment outlets that refuse to comply and continue to let their customers drink and gather in their premises,” he said in a Facebook post on Sunday (April 18).
He said as such, if the public refused to cooperate with the present set hours, earlier curfew could be enforced.
“This will make it much more difficult to do business and anything else. It will be more inconvenient and painful for everyone. That is why everyone must work together and tolerate the CMCO for now. It is better to bear with short-term pain than to endure long-term pain.
“If we do not control the flow of people and stop mass gatherings, how can we hope to cut the chain of infection and stop the pandemic? If no one is willing to take the CMCO seriously and comply with the SOPs, when will this pandemic end?” he asked.
Tiong said even though many had agreed that the MCO should be re-implemented, it is hoped that a balance between protecting lives and keeping the economy moving could be maintained.
“There have been suggestions to implement MCO in red zones in Bintulu, with barbed wire fences to lockdown these areas. However, following an in-depth investigation, it was found that many confirmed cases in the district originated from housing areas.
“If a lockdown is implemented, many residential neighbourhoods will be affected, which is equivalent to sealing off the entire Bintulu town. The severity of the pandemic can be seen in these housing areas; there are dozens of confirmed cases in each area, so the public must take the CMCO seriously,” he pointed out.
Tiong reminded the people to stay at home and not to go out unless necessary in order to contain the spread of the virus.
“Chinese ethnic groups are indifferent to the situation, leading to a sudden increase in infection numbers.
“I hold the opinion that many among the Chinese generally maintain a dismissive attitude to the pandemic which has led to a rapid increase in the number of confirmed cases among Chinese households in Bintulu,” he said.
He said records showed that from the beginning of this year, Covid-19 infections among Chinese amounted to 0.0 percent. From the end of January, the rate of positive diagnoses among Chinese in Bintulu began to rise, with 12.8 percent recorded at the end of February and now approaching 30 percent.
“We must stop thinking we are immune to the disease and think that only other people will get it.
“The current confirmed cases are mostly patients from urban areas and workplace clusters. The Chinese and all other groups must take the pandemic seriously and not underestimate the threat,” said Tiong.
