Douglas Uggah: Kuching only district classified as Covid-19 red zone in Sarawak

KUCHING: With a total of 118 Covid-19 cases so far, Kuching district has been classified as a red zone by the National Security Council (NSC), says Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah (pic).

He said this was the only red zone in the state, while 13 other districts classified as orange zones and 26 as green zones.

Red zones are areas with more than 40 cases, orange zones with one to 40 cases and green zones with no cases.

Of the orange zones, Kota Samarahan has the most cases with 20, followed by Miri (11), Betong (nine), Sarikei and Limbang (six each), Bintulu (five), Serian and Sibu (four each), while Simunjan, Sri Aman, Mukah, Matu and Lawas have one case each.

Uggah appealed to the public to play their part and comply with the movement control order (MCO) to ensure that the green zones remained green.

"This is why we have regulations on inter-district travel, and we will tighten them further so that we can maintain these areas as green.

"Later on we will discuss whether the situation in these areas can be more relaxed; we have not decided but we will be discussing it.

"Similarly for the red zone, we will decide what to do. There are standard operating procedures laid out by the NSC and the committee will study this," he told a press conference after chairing a state disaster management committee meeting here on Wednesday (April 1).

Uggah also said Sarawak recorded 32 new Covid-19 cases on Wednesday (March 31), bringing the state's total to 188.

He said 31 of the new cases were from Kuching and one from Kota Samarahan. All of them are being treated at the Sarawak General Hospital here.

"Most of the positive cases reported today are from those who went for screening at the Youth and Sports Complex here," he said.

He added that a total of 2,288 people had come forward for screening at the complex since March 21, from whom 1,160 samples were taken. Of this total, 49 tested positive, 771 were negative and 340 were awaiting results. - Star