Proof of vaccination needed to enter supermarkets — SRDC

SIBU: Effective tomorrow (Aug 7), visitors to the supermarkets and several retail outlets in Sibu Jaya and Selangau must provide evidence of receiving at least one dose of Covid19 vaccination in order to be allowed entry.

Sibu Rural District Council (SRDC) deputy chairman Wong Ching Yong said this was to prevent the spread of the Covid19 virus, especially the highly transmissible Delta variant which had emerged in Sarawak in the past few weeks.

“All the supermarkets and some of the retail outlets in Sibu Jaya and Selangau have already agreed to our request to implement the new rulings and hopefully, this will help stop the spread of the Covid-19 virus,’ he told reporters during a press conference via Zoom yesterday morning.

Earlier, Wong had a Zoom meeting with all the supermarkets and some of the retail stakeholders in Sibu Jaya and Selangau on the need for customers to have received at least one dose of the vaccination before entering these premises.

“They agreed unanimously to our proposal,” he said.

However, SRDC enforcement team would not impose any penalty on those caught flouting the new rulings during the trial period as it was more of an educational action to convince the people on the need to be vaccinated, he added.

He said they would wait for further instructions from Sarawak Disaster Management Commi ee (SDMC) in the event that they needed to impose the penalty.

“At the moment, our whole intention is to guide and educate the people to be aware of the importance of ge ing vaccinated,” he added.

To enter these premises, Wong said the visitors must provide evidence of their vaccination either by showing their digital vaccination certificate on their MySejahtera mobile app or the vaccination card to the staff of the supermarkets or retail outlets.

By coming up with such move, he said they were indirectly encouraging all the people to go for vaccination.

Wong discouraged parents from bringing along their children below the age of 18 when going shopping as their children would not be allowed entry.

“Because the current law disallows children below 18 for the vaccination, we just have no choice but to abide with the rules and regulations.”

All the supermarkets and some of the retail outlets in Sibu Jaya and Selangau have already agreed to our request to implement the new rulings and hopefully, this will help stop the spread of the Covid-19 virus.

Wong Ching Yong