SARAWAK has reversed its decision to allow dine-ins even though the state is moving into phase two of the national recovery plan tomorrow.

The U-turn is due to the detection of 16 more cases of the highly transmissible Covid-19 Delta variant in Kuching, the state disaster management committee said today.

The disaster committee said that in light of the new threat, the state’s Ministry of Local Government and Housing has to review and improve the current standard operating procedure (SOP) guidelines for dine-ins.

“Therefore, dine-in is temporarily not allowed until a new SOP is issued by the ministry,” it added.

However, it did not state when the new SOP would be ready.

Sarawak today reported a spike of infections with a count of 472 new cases, an increase from the 235 cases reported yesterday.

The Tembok prison cluster in Miri, which recorded 168 cases among the inmates, accounted for the majority of the new infections.

Nine other clusters contributed to 70 new cases.

Two deaths were also reported today. The victims, who passed away in the Sibu hospital, are a 57-year-old man and a 58-year-old woman. They both had comorbidities. – July 13, 2021.