Sarawak's southern zone moving into Phase Three of NRP on Friday (Oct 1)

KUCHING: Eight districts in Sarawak's southern zone will enter Phase Three of the National Recovery Plan (NRP) on Friday (Oct 1), two months after the rest of the state.

Announcing this on Monday (Sept 27), the state disaster management committee said the decision was made after the Sarawak Health Department and National Security Council (NSC) assessed the risks and and considered the threshold values for the southern zone.

"With the transition of the southern zone, the whole of Sarawak will be in Phase Three effective 12.01am on Oct 1," the committee said in a statement.

The southern zone covers the Kuching, Bau, Lundu, Samarahan, Asajaya, Simunjan, Serian and Tebedu districts.

The rest of the state previously moved to Phase Three on Aug 4 after meeting the required thresholds, but the implementation of the transition was deferred for the southern zone as Covid-19 cases there were still high at the time.

The committee said more sectors would be allowed to operate from Oct 1 in compliance with standard operating procedures (SOP).

These include number forecast outlets; spas, wellness, reflexology and beauty centres; cybercafes; retailers of children's toys; and snooker and billiards centres.

Gyms, zumba and yoga studios, swimming pools and tourist attractions can also reopen on Oct 1.

The SOP for these sectors will be available on the websites of the state Local Government and Housing Ministry, Youth and Sports Ministry and Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry this week.

The committee also said police permits were still required for inter-district travel.

Drivers and workers transporting essential goods and services must undergo RTK-antigen or saliva tests every seven days in addition to obtaining police permits if their duties include regular inter-district travel.