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CMCO with enhanced SOPs to be enforced in Bintulu Division from April 14-27
Posted on : 14 Apr 2021  Source of News: The Borneo Post
 

BINTULU (April 13): A Conditional Movement Control Order with enhanced standard operating procedures (SOPs) will be enforced in Bintulu Division from midnight (April 14) to April 27.

Bintulu Division Disaster Management Committee (BDDMC) minister in charge Dato Sri Dr Stephen Rundi Utom said this follows the sudden rise in Covid-19 positive cases in the division.

“Overall, the standard operating procedures (SOP) are still following the state SOPs; we just have to adjust it based on our current situation here,” the Minister of Utilities told reporters after chairing the BDDMC meeting today.

Under the new SOPs until April 27, all economic activities will only be allowed to open from 6am to 8pm, except for pharmacies, which can open until 10pm.

There will be no dining in at coffee shops and restaurants, with only takeaways allowed. 

Dr Rundi said the drastic move has to be taken to prevent the Covid-19 situation in Bintulu from getting worse, citing Sibu as an example.

He stressed this 14-day period is critical for Bintulu to break the chain of infection in the community.

“Our medical facilities are at a critical stage, including our manpower, ICU, PKRC, and quarantine centres.

“If we record more cases, then how are we going to solve this problem?” he said.

He said the CMCO with enhanced SOPs was unanimously agreed to by all elected representatives here, front-liners, and BDDMC.

According to him, the third wave of Covid-19 infection started in Sibu, before spreading to other districts in Sarawak, with Bintulu currently in the critical stage of repeating the same degree of infection.

“We have seen several departments have been affected, such as Laku, JBALB (Rural Water Supply Department), Post Office.

“We call for the cooperation from all parties, there will be some minority groups who will not agree with this SOP,” he said.

Based on the statistics of cases and infection, Dr Rundi said they will propose to the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) for schools in town areas to implement online learning, while face to face learning will only be for schools in rural areas.

“Schools in the town area, we have no choice and will propose to the state Education director to continue with online learning.

“If one school is affected, it becomes a burden and affects all parties,” he said.

Dr Rundi also disclosed that in view of the increasing trend of Covid-19 cases in Bintulu, the mandatory swab test for entry into Bintulu, which was to end on April 18, would likely be extended until further notice.

“We have detected 20 individuals from Sibu with positive swab test results, those who wanted to travel into Bintulu. If we didn’t impose this mandatory swab, you just imagine these individuals might have been in our community,” he pointed out.

He said the government is looking into various aspects before implementing the SOP, and due to economic factors, total lockdown cannot be imposed.

Among those present were Bintulu MP Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing and BDDMC chairman Jack Aman Luat.

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