KUCHING has moved out of the red into the yellow zone, after reporting no new coronavirus cases in the last two days and no deaths from the infection in more than two weeks.

The district now has fewer that 40 cases of Covid-19, said Deputy Chief Minister Douglas Uggah in a daily briefing.

The last reported Covid-19 death in the district was on April 30, of a 72-year-old man in Kampung Tabuan Lot.

He was the 17th person to die from the infection in Sarawak.

Districts with more than 40 cases are labelled red; 20-40 orange; and 1-19 yellow. Green means infection-free.

About 73% of Sarawak, particularly its rural areas, is in the green zone.

Meanwhile, Uggah, who chairs the state disaster management committee, said standard operating procedure for students returning from the peninsula, Sabah and Labuan has changed following the detection of a new cluster among students outside the state.

He appeared to be referring to the students who were found to be infected upon returning home to Sabah.

Uggah said swabbed samples would be taken from the students upon arrival in Sarawak instead of a week after their return.

Instead of being bussed home directly like the earlier batches, the students would now first be screened and lodged at a quarantine hotel until their test results are obtained.

They will be allowed to return home if the results are negative.

However, they will be fitted with an electronic tracking device to ensure they complete the remainder of the mandatory 14-day quarantine.

More than 4,900 students have returned home since the campus lockdowns were lifted at the end of April.

The committee has also facilitated the return of over 1,400 students in local universities, and institutions of higher learnings back to their homes in the rural areas.

Civil servants from the peninsula, Sabah and Labuan who wish to enter the state for work or who are returning home are now required to undergo the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test at least three days before commencing the journey to Sarawak.

Only those with negative test results will be permitted entry. – May 15, 2020.