An express boat berthing at Kapit Express Terminal. – File photo
SARIKEI: Passenger boats plying the Sarikei and Tanjung Manis route have been ordered to cease operations with immediate effect after a Covid-19 case was confirmed in Tanjung Manis yesterday and turned the district into a ‘yellow zone.’
Sarawak Rivers Board Sarikei Division Assistant Port Officer, Hazizan Sapiee, confirmed that all river transport services between Sarikei and Tanjung Manis had been ordered to stop operation effective today.
He said the order was in accordance with the standard operation procedure (SOP) under Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) which allowed public transport to operate in or between green zones only.
As such, he said river transport services for nearby Matu and Daro districts under Mukah Division were still allowed to operate.
Tanjung Manis District slipped into the yellow zone after a college student returned to her home in Kampong Belawai from Kuching and was tested positive while under quarantine.
She was one of four cases announced by the State Disaster Management Committee yesterday with the others in Kuching, Bintulu and Serian. Tanjung Manis was previously a green zone where there had been no confirmed cases in at least 14 days.
Sarikei District Police chief, Supt Awang Arfian Awang Bujang confirmed that his men had escorted a team of health staff to fetch the student from her house and brought her to Sibu Hospital in an ambulance yesterday.
“While the student was undergoing treatment at Sibu Hospital, the health authority will go all out to trace those who had been in close contact with the student,” he said.