Police personnel man a roadblock in Kuching city during the MCO in March, last year.
MIRI (April 18): Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak Baru (PBDSB) has reiterated its call for the state government to impose a lockdown on Covid-19 red zones as a drastic measure to curb the spread of Covid-19 in Sarawak.
Its president Bobby William said the people are anxious and worried about the high number of positive cases recorded over the last two weeks, especially in major cities namely Kuching, Sibu, Bintulu and Miri.
“The trend is worrying, and the people want the state government to impose a lockdown, if not on all districts in Sarawak, at least have lockdown on red zone districts.
“This is crucial because only through lockdown, the movement of the people between the districts can be drastically reduced and so does the chances of the virus spreading around uncontrollably,” he said in an interview here.
PBDSB has made similar call for the State Disaster Management Committee to impose lockdown on Covid-19 red zone districts in the state on April 12.
Bobby said the state government may have been pressured by many sectors, especially the businesses to not implement a lockdown.
However, he stressed that the health and well-being of the people must be prioritised at all times.
“It is undeniably that many businesses are trying to stay afloat post-Covid-19 pandemic which hit the country in January last year, but at the same time, it is also important that the state government consider the health and well-being of the majority of the people,” he said.
He suggested that the state government impose a 14-day total lockdown on the targeted districts that has been recording high number of positive cases the last few weeks.
He also called for the state government to close all schools in Covid-19 red zones and maintain online learning as there have been a few positive cases involving students.
“Parents are very anxious and worry about sending their children to school during this time. We hope that the state government would take into consideration the parents concern about this issue,” he said.