KUCHING, Aug 29 — Sarawak will be following the federal government’s decision to extend the recovery movement control order (RMCO) to December 31, said Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg.

He said the goal of RMCO was recovery while serving as a precaution to curb the Covid-19 pandemic from spreading in the country.

“We will follow because it is national. But it (standard operating procedures) will be a relaxed one. It is for recovery so it should be okay.

“But we should not take things for granted also. As you have known, even in New Zealand, Covid-19 came back. So we must take precautions,” he said.

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He was responding to reporters after officiating at Sarawak Women’s Day 2020 celebration at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) here this afternoon, asking him to comment on the announcement by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin that the RMCO will be extended until December 31.

The current RMCO was originally slated to end on Aug 31 after it came into effect on June 10.

Prior to the RMCO, the government enforced the conditional movement control order (CMCO) from May 13 to June 10 and movement control order (MCO) from Mar 18 to May 12 to contain the spread of Covid-19.

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Muhyiddin said even though the country’s new Covid-19 positive cases had remained at single digit numbers recently, Malaysians must not take the matter lightly.

He said the government was left with no choice but to continue putting in place mechanisms and laws to break the chain of Covid-19 infection across the country.

“This is to ensure that all parties will continue to comply with the SOP (standard operating procedures) and health protocols set by the government,” said Muhyiddin.

Meanwhile, Abang Johari assured that the Bantuan Kasih Sayang Sarawak (BKSS) will continue to be presented to eligible recipients up till December this year in line with the extension of the RMCO.

He said the state had anticipated that the movement control orders will not end in one way or another, as the war against Covid-19 is far from over.

“Our BKSS is up to December. Every two months we pay out up to December. We anticipate this (extension of RMCO) to happen last time,” he said.

BKSS was first announced on March 23. A total of RM1.15 billion was allocated for this special aid to help those affected by the movement control order (MCO).

On April 10, BKSS 2.0 with an allocation of RM1.1 billion was announced, focusing to aid small-medium entrepreneurs and the business community affected by the MCO.

Then on May 8, BKSS 3.0 was announced with an allocation of RM300 million to help more people affected by the MCO and the Covid-19 pandemic. — Borneo Post Online