Malaysians entering Sarawak must undergo quarantine at hotels from 1st August

All Malaysians entering Sarawak will be required to undergo mandatory quarantine starting next month. This is part of Sarawak Disaster Management Committee’s (SDMC) new measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the state.

According to the announcement made on their Facebook page, all citizens that arrive from Peninsular, Sabah and Labuan must be quarantined at hotels. It added that a PCR test will be taken on the 2nd day of quarantine. If the test returns negative, travelers will be released. The new directive will be enforced for a period of two weeks from 1st to 14th August 2020. At the time of writing, it isn’t clear if the cost of quarantine at hotels would be borne by the government.

For Sarawakians and Malaysians entering Sarawak from overseas, the existing process is still maintained. According to Malaysia Airlines’ website, Sarawakians and Malaysians with recent history of overseas travel must undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine in Sarawak. A PCR test will be conducted on the 2nd day and if the results are negative, they can continue their quarantine at home. A second test will be conducted after the 10th day.

Sarawak has recorded a spike in new COVID-19 infections in the past week and Kuching was declared a red zone on Saturday with 41 active cases. Today, Kuching has returned back to yellow zone as the number of cases dropped to 40. Samarahan is also a yellow zone while other districts in Sarawak are all green.

The SDMC will continue to announce new measures to curb the spread of the disease. It added that some of the new measures considered include restricting inter-district travel, reducing the number of flights and to shorten business operating hours.

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