KUCHING: The Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO) will be enforced in Kampung Haji Baki here starting at 6 pm tomorrow until Nov 11, Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (JPBN) chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said today.
He said the EMCO was needed as there were already 25 Covid-19 positive cases detected in the village since Oct 18.
“Since the cluster’s index case was reported, the Health Ministry (MOH) had conducted contact tracing and Active Case Detection on Oct 25. The 25 cases involved family members of the index case, close neighbours, pupils and health personnel,” he said in a daily press conference on Covid-19 development here.
Uggah, who is also Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister 1, said the move would involve 530 houses with 4,200 residents from Block A, B and C of Kampung Haji Baki.
“All surau, mosques, other houses of worship and schools in the affected area will be closed during this period and all economic sectors are not allowed to operate,” he added.
Uggah said religious, social, recreational, cultural and sports activities were also not allowed and the MOH would carry out targeted screening on affected residents, while food supplies would be distributed by the state government.
Meanwhile, commenting on the MV Dayang Topaz vessel collision with an offshore oil platform in the waters off Kuala Baram early this morning, Uggah said the Miri JPBN has been directed to carry out Covid-19 screening on all crew involved and place them under a 14-day quarantine.
“We cannot confirm whether they had visited Sabah or not prior to the incident. This is not to complicate things but these are the measures that we have stipulated to address the spread of Covid-19 pandemic because 60 per cent of positive cases in the state were imported cases,” he explained.
Based on the initial investigation, the victims in the collision incident comprised 185 Malaysian crewmen and two others from Indonesia, namely the Captain and Chief Officer, all aged between 21 and 63.
The Petronas Carigali-rented vessel, which was earlier reported to have suffered damage and capsized, was still floating and had been escorted to the Miri port. -Bernama
