Longhouse residents urged to be Covid-19 infection chain breakers
SIBU: Residents of longhouses placed under Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO) or lockdown are advised to play their role as Covid-19 infection chain breakers.
Sibu police chief ACP Stanley Jonathan Ringgit said they must obey the standard operating procedures (SOP) at all times and not wait for the authorities to remind them to do so.
“SOP compliance in longhouses is like when you are driving. When you see a roadblock ahead, you quickly buckle up (put on seat belt).
“It is very difficult to contain the infection whenever there is an outbreak involving longhouses due to the community’s way of life and customs,” he told reporters when met at the central police station here yesterday.
Stanley said he had brought the issue pertaining to SOP compliance in longhouses to their meeting.
He said it was easy for the authorities to monitor movement of people in individual houses where lockdown were imposed, compared to longhouses.
“Enforcement personnel cannot control the movement of the residents from one end to the other in every longhouse.
“The personnel are stationed to guard the entrance of longhouses and they do not enter each door to monitor the residents.
“They cannot see what happened inside each door and at the back of the longhouses,” he said.
Several longhouses in Sibu Division covering Kanowit and Selangau districts are being placed under lockdown.
Among them are Rumah Monica Giri at Jalan Salim Stabau and Rumah Dick at Mile 8, Jalan Oya here, he said.
He also advised members of the public to continue practising physical distancing and follow the SOP to avoid being infected.