KUCHING: The State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) is evaluating closely the current lack of Covid-19 quarantine centres in Sibu, said its chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas.
Addressing recent concerns in regard to arrivals from West Malaysia who were ordered to undergo home quarantine due to shortage of hotel rooms for quarantine, Uggah said there had been situations where travellers were taking advantage of the situation in the hope of getting home quarantine orders.
“At the moment, we are evaluating Sibu. We found that some Sarawakians are very ‘smart’ as they know that there are shortages of hotel rooms in Sibu so if they fly to Sibu, the probability of them getting home quarantine is very high.
“We have the data to show this. It is very dangerous as we have a case in Bintulu where a person was put under home quarantine and was found to be positive,” he warned.
Uggah said this when fielding questions from reporters after delivering SDMC’s daily Covid-19 update on Monday (Dec 28).
The committee is studying the situation in Sibu and a discussion will be held with the Divisional Disaster Management Committee there, he added.
Quarantine centres in Sarawak, particularly in Kuching, are not limited to only designated hotel rooms but also include other facilities suitable for quarantine purposes, the deputy chief minister pointed out.
“The committee in Sibu is hard at work to ensure there will be enough quarantine centres there. If all else fails, we will then look into reducing the flights to Sibu.
“At the moment, we are maintaining the flights despite Sibu being the place that we are very concerned about, namely what is happening there,” he added.
