CMCO better option for Sarawak
The Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) in Sarawak will continue to be enforced from April 13-26, said State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas.
He said following discussions with the National Security Council (MKN), five districts namely Kuching, Miri, Meradong, Bintulu, and Sibu will be under CMCO and not under the Movement Control Order (MCO) which was initially announced by the council on Wednesday.
“At the same time, SDMC will also continue to enforce the Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO) at high-risk areas in the state,” he told a press conference here yesterday.
Uggah’s clarification came following Wednesday’s confusion over whether the five districts in Sarawak had been placed under MCO, after MKN uploaded an infographic on Facebook which said Kuching, Miri, Meradong, Bintulu, and Sibu would be placed under MCO from April 16-29.
It was taken down moments later but by then, the infographic had gone viral after was widely shared on social media.
Uggah said based on Sarawak’s experience, the implementation of CMCO with clear standard operating procedures (SOPs) and strict enforcement was more effective in reducing and stopping the spread of Covid-19 in the state.
“One of the main concerns of SDMC should MCO be enforced is the effectiveness of enforcement in a wider area.
“This is based on our recent MCO experience in Sibu from Feb 15 to March 1,” he explained.
The Deputy Chief Minister said it is easier to manage and enforce CMCO, especially in confined and concentrated areas.
“At the same time, when village and longhouse areas are affected, these areas will be placed under lockdown immediately.
“This has and will assist the security or enforcement to implement movement control effectively,” he said.
He said SDMC had previously declared two EMCO at the flats at Sibujaya and Rumah Sentosa in Sibu as well as at 152 longhouses.
“To date, 144 EMCOs have ended while another 10 are still placed under EMCO,” he added.
He said with this approach, the EMCOs successfully managed to reduce the number of positive cases and curb the spread of Covid-19 infections in the affected areas without burdening economic activities in other areas.
In Sarawak, SDMC has implemented a total of 487 EMCOs since January this year and 401 have ended.
A total of 77,303 individuals under the EMCO areas have been screened of which 4,573 were found positive.
SDMC has also delegated authority to its Divisional Disaster Management Committees (DDMCs) to conduct infection risk assessment in their respective divisions.
They are to recommend the most appropriate SOPs to curb transmission and infections in those divisions.