KUCHING: Sarawak will not allow dine-ins for now following the detection of the Delta Covid-19 variant in the state.

       The state disaster management committee said the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for eateries under Phase Two of the National Recovery Plan would be reviewed by the state Local Government and Housing Ministry in light of the Delta variant.

       "As such, dine-ins are prohibited until the SOP has been released by the ministry," the committee said in a statement on Tuesday (July 13).

       Sarawak is set to enter Phase Two of the NRP on Wednesday (July 14).

       According to the committee's roadmap to recovery released on July 11, dine-in would be allowed under Phase Two subject to the ministry's SOP.

       Earlier Tuesday, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak's Institute of Health and Community Medicine (IHCM) announced that 16 more cases of the Delta variant had been detected in Sarawak up to July 4.

       Meanwhile, Sarawak's new Covid-19 cases rose to 472 on Tuesday after 235 on Monday, bringing the state's cumulative tally to 69,576.

       The committee said 168 of the new cases involved detainees at the Miri central prison while two cases were immigration detainees in Sri Aman.

       Two more fatalities were also reported on Tuesday for a death toll of 435.

       The latest deaths were a 58-year-old woman and 57-year-old man who both died at Sibu Hospital.