S’wak reverts quarantine to 14 days

KOTA SAMARAHAN: Sarawak’s decision to revert to the full 14-day quarantine at designated centres for those entering the state was based on advice from the Health Department.

Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said this was after some Covid19 positive cases were only discovered on the 11th to 13th day after entering Sarawak.

“Previously, the quarantine was for 10 days, whereby the person would be tested on the second and eighth day. But, we found some cases only tested positive after 11 days, 12 days, and 13 days.

“So, acting on advice from the Health Department, we reverted to the full 14 days quarantine. I understand that some people may not understand it, but I appeal to everyone to understand although of course it is troublesome, since some get it for free and some have to pay (for the quarantine and tests),” he said yesterday after visiting the Institute for Rural Advancement (Infra) Sarawak campus, which is now being used as a quarantine centre.

The Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman had announced on Monday that everyone entering Sarawak would be quarantined for 14 days at hotels and designated quarantine centres, with no exceptions given.

The RT PCR screening test would be taken on the second and 10th day, and they would be released from quarantine once their second test is negative for Covid-19.

Uggah said a group of Sarawakians returning from overseas had even told him that they would be willing to go for the full 14-day quarantine once arriving in the state.

He explained that this group had contacted him when they were in Kuala Lumpur for quarantine and had undergone the Antigen RTK test.

“They said they want to be quarantined once reaching Sarawak. Of course they are Sarawakians, we pay for their test and quarantine.This is the way we control the spread of Covid-19. I don’t have the figures with me, but I can say a lot of cases are imported,” he said.

Uggah also assured that there are now sufficient quarantine centres in Sarawak.

“We were in a dilemma before, whether we maintain the existing number of flights or reduce. In the end we decided to reduce based on the number of hotels we have.

“We have been given a very bitter lesson whereby we gave home quarantine, which caused the cases to spread quickly to Sibu and Miri.