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Covid spread in Sabah EMCO area began during Raya, say authorities

Sandakan Disaster Operations Control Centre chairman says there is no record of residents' whereabouts over the last 14 days.

Bernama
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Army personnel put up a barbed wire fence around the Taman Utama area in Sandakan which has been placed under enhanced movement control order until June 17. Photo: Bernama
Army personnel put up a barbed wire fence around the Taman Utama area in Sandakan which has been placed under enhanced movement control order until June 17. Photo: Bernama

The spread of Covid-19 in Taman Utama in Sandakan, which has been placed under enhanced movement control order (EMCO), likely started during the Aidilfitri celebrations which began on May 13, Sandakan Disaster Operations Control Centre chairman Wong Foo Tin says.

“Yes, it was during Raya (Aidilfitri),” he told Bernama when contacted today about the reason for the two-week EMCO in the area.

On June 2, Senior Minister for Security Ismail Sabri Yaakob said Lorong Taman Utama 5 to 8 in Taman Utama would be placed under EMCO following a sharp rise in cases with nine testing positive out of 13 screenings – a positive rate of 69.2%.

Wong, who is also president of the Sandakan Municipal Council, did not deny that house hosts had not created MySejahtera barcodes for visitors to scan, which prompted the authorities to seal off the area involving about 40 houses so that Covid-19 screening could be carried out.

He said there was no record of residents’ whereabouts over the last 14 days and that this had also likely led to the EMCO in the area which will continue until June 17.

A site check by Bernama today found the area fenced up and manned by police and army personnel as well as Rela members, with residents’ movements in and out of the area restricted.