BY RACHEL MINA
KUCHING: Interstate travel will not lead to a rise in Covid-19 cases, agrees Sarawak Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.
Abdul Karim was commenting on the statement made by federal Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin on Thursday (Sept 24) that interstate travel was unlikely to trigger a spike in cases.
“For Sarawak, there is no doubt that the virus was brought from outside of the state, but it has not been proven that the spike in cases was solely from interstate travel.
“Most of our clusters and cases originated in the community itself, as a result of social gatherings and funerals.”
Abdul Karim emphasised that public awareness was much higher now, urging everyone to continue being vigilant, practise good hygiene, and adhere to standard operating procedure guidelines set by the authorities.
Khairy, in response to the government’s recent announcement to allow interstate travel once the country reaches 90 per cent immunisation coverage, stressed that gatherings, not mobility alone, were the cause of new cases.
While 90 per cent of adults vaccinated accounted for 60 per cent of the total population, he added that the government was in the process of vaccinating teenagers.
