File photo for illustration purposes
KUCHING: Sarawak will not allow any foreigners from Indonesia to enter the state for the time being until further notice, the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) announced today.
In a statement, SDMC said the decision was reached following a meeting a day after an Indonesian couple allegedly evaded treatment for Covid-19 and disappeared from their living quarters after being tested positive for the virus following a swab test carried out on them as a requirement to work at a construction site in Petra Jaya.
The couple have since been apprehended by the police at a house in Jalan Matang Baru at around 11.15pm last night.
“The police have succeeded in arresting the two Indonesians tested positive for Covid-19, after they tried to escape from Ministry of Health personnel.
“Both of them have been admitted to Sarawak General Hospital to undergo treatment,” the statement read.
The statement also revealed that two persons comprising a local and an Indonesian were arrested by the General Operations Force (GOF) following Ops Benteng carried out in Tebedu.
It however did not elaborate what the arrests were for, but it has been reported that Ops Benteng is now being carried out to prevent foreigners from sneaking into Malaysia to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
SDMC also announced that other decisions reached following today’s meeting include requiring Sarawakians who return from Indonesia to undergo compulsory quarantine at quarantine centres designated to them.
They must also undergo Covid-19 screening on the 10th day of quarantine, it added.
The other decision reached by SDMC was requiring Sarawakians who return from overseas (apart from Indonesia) to go for Covid-19 screening three days before their journey home
“Once reaching Sarawak, they are required to undergo Home Quarantine if they return to urban areas or at quarantine centres if they return to rural areas. They must go for a Covid-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test on the 10th day of quarantine,” said the statement.
On another matter, SDMC said two persons were compounded for not complying with the Recovery Control Movement Order (RMCO) standard operating procedures at an eatery and a convenience store.