Sarawak orders travellers from Singapore to undergo home quarantine

The Sarawak health department has advised those who are unwell to avoid attending gatherings, meetings, conferences or religious events.

KUCHING: The Sarawak state disaster management committee today has made it compulsory for those who have travelled to Singapore to undergo an immediate self-imposed 14 days home quarantine.

Its chairman Douglas Uggah Embas said the decision takes effect today after Singapore issued an orange alert over the spread of the Wuhan virus.

The orange warning level indicates that the virus is severe and can easily spread from one person to another.

However, Uggah said the virus had not spread widely in Singapore and was being contained.

“As at yesterday, Singapore had 43 confirmed cases,” he said.

He also said from Jan 10 to Feb 9, there were 60 cases of patients under investigation (PUI) in Sarawak.

“We have 43 negative cases and 17 more are pending laboratory test results,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Sarawak health department had also advised those who were unwell to avoid attending gatherings, meetings, conferences or religious events.

“Individuals under home quarantine should not attend any function or event.

“They are strongly advised to remain at home and minimise the time spent in public places,” it said.

The department also advised the public to avoid shaking hands or having physical contact with others and to consider adopting alternative ways of greeting each other.

“The Immigration Department must also do frequent cleaning and wiping of their thumbprint machines,” it said.

For the public transport sector, the state health department also advised buses, taxis and other public transportation to be cleaned frequently with detergent or disinfectant spray. - FMT