Sarawak allows food vendors to operate from homes for Ramadan

Only takeaways are allowed for Ramadan in Sarawak.

KUCHING: Food vendors in Sarawak are allowed to operate during Ramadan in their house compounds for takeaways, a state minister said today.

Sarawak’s Tourism Minister Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said these food vendors would be allowed to operate from 3pm to 10pm throughout the fasting month.

“It is compulsory for food vendors and customers to abide by the rules by wearing masks, practising social distancing and good hygiene,” he said at a press conference here today.

Karim said all hotels, restaurants and fast food restaurants were also allowed to operate for takeaways from 3pm to 10pm throughout Ramadan.

However, he said, the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee had decided not to allow Ramadan bazaars, stalls and food trucks to operate during the fasting month to prevent the spread of Covid-19 among the people.

He said the people, particularly Muslims, should continue staying at home and come out only to purchase food for breaking fast or sahur.

The fasting month is expected to begin on April 24.

Earlier, state Disaster Management Committee chairman Douglas Uggah Embas said Sarawak had reported another death due to Covid-19 — a 72-year-old Iban woman from Lingga, Sri Aman.

So far, a total of 16 people have died due to the virus in the state.

According to Uggah, the victim was also suffering from high blood pressure and a growth in her stomach.

“The victim was referred to Sarawak General Hospital on April 20 after complaining of epigastric pain, melenic stool and shortness of breath a week before,” he said.

She was tested positive for Covid-19 on April 22 and died at 9.15am at the hospital today, he said, adding that the victim had no history of contact with any positive case.

“Meanwhile, we have 19 new positive cases today and 155 new Persons Under Investigation (PUI) cases, with 136 people still waiting for their lab test results,” he said, adding that as of today, 105 people had been discharged from hospitals.

He said a working committee was formed to contact about 2,500 people who had close or casual contacts with positive cases, asking them to go for screening tests.

“So far, we have managed to contact 207 people. Of these, 82 had agreed to come forward for screening tests at the Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) City Centre and 11 people had made appointments for screening tests at the Youth and Sports Complex in Kuching,” he added. - FMT