COVID: Sarawak to tighten controls in longhouses, villages - Uggah

KUCHING: The Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) will find a way to impose stricter controls in longhouses and villages involved in movement restrictions.

SDMC chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said at present, the control was seen to be less effective due to an insufficient number of enforcement personnel stationed in the affected areas.

Uggah said he was informed that there were cases of residents leaving their longhouses and villages through "rat lanes".

"Tomorrow, we will meet and discuss stricter control methods, including increasing the number of enforcement personnel such as the police or army," he said at a press conference on the state COVID-19 development, here, yesterday.

Meanwhile, Uggah, who is also the Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister, urged residents of longhouses and villages to cooperate and not to go out as well as not to hold any events or social activities with crowds in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Meanwhile, he said two COVID-related fatalities were recorded in Sarawak yesterday, taking the death toll in the state to 44.

Sarawak also recorded its highest number of daily infections yesterday, with 270 positive cases.

In the meantime, Uggah said today's meeting would also discuss standard operating procedures (SOP) on the opening of hair salons.

"For now, we still stick to the existing SOP. We do not have to follow the SOP in the Peninsula because our SOP is based on the current situation in our state," he added.

-- BERNAMA