KUCHING: A lockdown has been declared throughout Sarawak from May 29 until June 11.
State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) in announcing this today, said the declaration of movement control order (MCO) was approved by the National Security Council (NSC) Sarawak.
SDMC chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said the statewide MCO was necessary to effectively break the chain of Covid-19 infection which was on an increasing trend.
He told a press conference here the decision had to be taken following increasing trend of positive cases including death recorded daily.
The state recorded 772 new positive Covid-19 cases today, the second highest so far bringing the cumulative total number of cases to 44,738 and a record nine deaths.
“This considerable increase in daily Covid -19 instances was observed following the Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebration, which included Hari Raya pilgrimages, where a total of 3,272 cases were reported from May 9 to 15 (an average of 467 cases per day).
“The incidence of Covid-19 cases in Sarawak increased from an average of 467 cases per day to 520 cases per day the following week, and as of May 27, a total of 3,118 cases had been reported, with an average of 623 cases daily.”
On death cases, he said a total of 91 deaths were recorded for this month alone compared to 69 in April and 29 in March.
Based on the statistics, he said an average of three deaths were recorded daily for this month compared to an average of two in April and an average of one in March.
Uggah said the intensive care unit (ICU) bed capacity in the state was presently at a critical level, with 81 Covid-19 cases in critical condition in the ICU ward, including 31 cases requiring respirator.
“This year, a total of 714 longhouses have been placed under lockdown with 98 currently under PKPD (conditional movement control order). To regulate the placement of PKPD, all of these enforcement efforts necessitate the employment of massive frontline energy resources,” he pointed out.
He added that stricter guidelines (SOPs) under the PKP, as well as movement control within a few weeks, were critical to reducing the danger of a Covid-19 epidemic in Sarawak.
The standard operating procedure (SOP) guidelines on the MCO will be published on NSC’s website tomorrow (May 28).
