Uggah speaking at the press conference.
KUCHING: The Sarawak Health Department has already issued a RM1,000 compound to the woman who failed to declare she had travelled to Tunisia when returning to Miri recently.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, who announced this today, said further action would be taken against the woman if she failed to pay the compound within the specific timeframe.
“I appeal to all who come into Sarawak (after their travel) to be truthful when filling up the E-Health declaration form. It is important that the information filled is true.
“This is for the benefit of all of us. You may have to make little bit of sacrifices but it means a lot (for the general health of the public),” he said at the daily Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) press conference on Covid-19 today.
It was learnt the compound notice was issued under Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (Measures Within Infected Local Areas) (No.7) Regulations 2020.
The woman, who was tested as Covid-19 positive, was found failing to declare that she had been out of the country returning to Miri recently.
She was treated as a returning Sarawakian from Kuala Lumpur to Miri and therefore not subjected to any quarantine requirements and allowed to go home.
She was on transit in Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) – where the standard operating procedure was to administer an RTK Antigen Test – of which her result initially came back negative.
The KLIA had an additional SOP to randomly test transiting passengers, including Malaysians, coming over from overseas for a PCR Swab test and she happened to be picked.
The PCR test result was only known the next day. However, instead of waiting for the result, she flew back to Miri on the same day.
She did not indicate that she had been travelling to Tunisia on her E-Health declaration form, though one of the column of the E-Health declaration was for a person to declare/disclose that he or she has been out of the country in the past 30 days.
Only on the following day after the lady had arrived in Miri, that the SDMC was informed by the authorities in Kuala Lumpur that her PCR Swab Test was positive for Covid-19.
She was subsequently taken to Miri Hospital for treatment, while her husband who picked her up at the airport was also asked to go for swab test.