KUCHING, May 21 ― Sarawak will learn from the Covid-19 situations in Hokkaido and Singapore in its efforts to combat the outbreak if there is a second wave, said the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman, Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas.
He said SDMC received a report from the Control and Prevention Committee, headed by Prof Datuk Andrew Kiyu from the University Malaysia Sarawak, Faculty of Medicines, with recommendations for measures to be taken in the face of a second wave of the outbreak.
He said, the report had cited the second wave situation and outbreak scenario in Hokkaido, Japan and Singapore, which previously were lauded for their capabilities in controlling the outbreak throughout the first wave.
“In Hokkaido, when economic activities resumed on March 16, they reported 18 new cases. The cases increased to 279 on April 14 and their government had enforced the second emergency order. However, the cases in Hokkaido continued to climb to 984 on May 15.
“Meanwhile, the second wave of the outbreak is also happening in Singapore, where positive cases increased from 266 on March 17 to 28,800 on May 19. As a result, Singapore has now recorded the highest number of Covid-19 cases in Southeast Asia,” he said at the daily media conference, here, today.
On that account, Uggah said SDMC is preparing a strategy to prepare for the possibility of a second wave in the state.
“SDMC can only have a strategy and implementing it, but more importantly, the people of Sarawak should play a role in making sure that the second wave does not happen here,” he said.
On another matter, SDMC has decided to allow bistros to reopen but without entertainment activities such as karaoke and live bands.
“Besides that, those arriving from overseas and are in transit at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport or the Kota Kinabalu International Airport do not need to apply for permits from the police.
“Instead, they would need to attain online permission from SDMC and to be quarantined for 14 days,” he said. ― Bernama
