File photo showing deserted streets in Kuching City on the first day of the MCO on March 18, 2020.
KUCHING (June 13): Many local youths have voiced their support for Sarawak government’s decision of further extending the current Movement Control Order (MCO) period to June 28.
Administrative assistant Choo Chong Seng observed that Sarawak had continued to register three-digit new Covid-19 cases daily and as such, the MCO was crucial in flattening the curve of infection.
“Looking at the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC)’s daily Covid-19 report, Sarawak continues to register hundreds of new cases every day, and there are still about 80 active Covid-19 clusters,” the 27-year-old Kuchingite told thesundaypost.
He said despite the inconvenience, a strict movement restriction was still required to break the chain of infection, seeing that the Covid-19 situation in Sarawak was still worrisome.
On vaccination, Choo said he had been scheduled to receive his first-dose AstraZeneca shot at Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) this coming Wednesday (June 16).
Kenny Kueh, a final-year student at Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus here, said the extension of the MCO period was ‘a reasonable decision’.
“The daily record of new Covid-19 cases in Sarawak is still at a dangerous level, so we need a much longer time to be able to control the situation.
“I believe that through the extension of MCO, it would prevent further Covid-19 transmissions as workers from more sectors are encouraged to work from home,” said the 25-year-old student.
Moreover, Kueh also stressed about the importance of retaining and continued compliance with the standard operating procedures (SOP).
“It’s more than just restricting social activities. The existing SOPs also need to be consistent and sensible so as to avoid public confusion, and at the same time, they would achieve the intended results.”
Damian Tang, also 25, also welcomed the state government’s decision reached amidst the present Covid-19 situation.
“I believe that the people in Sarawak are quite fortunate because the state government has just introduced the Sarawakku Sayang Special Assistance (BKSS) 6.0 package to support local communities, especially those categorised as the B40 (low-income) group,” said this secondary school teacher, who had been fully vaccinated with Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
Tang said the priority now must be on accelerating the vaccination programme across Sarawak, to enable it achieve herd immunity against Covid-19 infection.