THE Sarawak Multimedia Authority (SMA) today rolled out a tracking device to help state authorities keep tabs on the movement of people ordered to be in quarantine for suspected Covid-19 infection.

SMA said in a statement today the digital surveillance solution will give the state’s Disaster Management Committee the “scalable capability to monitor this form of infectious disease” at all the state’s points of entry.

It said at the moment, the tracker will only be used on those undergoing self-quarantine at home .

The QR-coded wristband is similar to hospital identification wrist tags.

Only Sarawak residents and permanent residents are allowed into the state as part of a rash of measures to stop the virus’ chain of transmission.

Malaysians who are non-Sarawak residents, tourists and foreigners have been barred.

Under state health laws, returning Sarawakians and permanent residents have to fill in a mandatory health declaration form upon entry before undergoing a health screening for the Covid-19 virus.

If the results of the test are positive, they will be categorised as person under investigation (PUI), where they will be quarantined at home or in hospital. If the test returns negative, then the person will have to undergo a 14-day quarantine under a stay home notice (SHN).

Those under the SNH will be issued the tracking device and, twice a day, they are required to report their situation by scanning their wristband’s QR code to submit information.

“Data collated will allow the state Disaster Management Committee to make informed decisions as well as conduct random checks on the wearers,” SMA said.

It said the wearers’ location will enable the committee “to establish hotspots, a key strategy to isolate further spread of the disease”.

SMA added variations of such a tracking system have been deployed in China, Singapore, South Korea and Hong Kong, where the data collected has been crucial to managing the fight against the virus.

“We are confident that this system will make the task of managing the outbreak effectively and in a timely manner, given the vastness of Sarawak.

“With the time frame given, the development team has made tremendous achievement within a three-day period to come up with such a solution,” SMA general manager Zaidi Razak said.

SMA said its digital surveillance solution will be extended to PUIs at hospitals or medical quarantine centres.

“Ultimately, this solution will be integrated into the ‘Permission to Enter/Exit’ system to effectively monitor Sarawak’s points of entry,” it added. – March 26, 2020.