International travellers to undergo strict screenings

PETALING JAYA: Following the latest directive from Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, travellers from countries aside from the eight subjected to temporary travel restrictions, will be allowed to join the Langkawi International Travel Bubble.

The eight countries are South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Malawi.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said apart from the need to conduct screenings using RT-PCR at least 72 hours prior to departure to Malaysia and on the day of arrival, travellers to Langkawi must also undergo a Covid-19 detection test using the RTK-Antigen (RTK-Ag) test on the third and fifth day after arrival.

“Travellers who test in Langkawi during the day of arrival on the island will be allowed to stay at the hotel while awaiting test results to avoid crowds gathering at the Langkawi International Airport. They will receive home surveillance order (HSO) digitally via the MySejahtera application.

“Travellers from countries – other than the eight countries that are subjected to temporary travel restrictions – are also allowed to enter Malaysia to travel to states other than Langkawi by complying with a number of requirements,” he said yesterday.

The requirements include the need to undergo mandatory quarantine. The quarantine period will depend on the vaccination status – seven days for those who have completed their vaccination or 10 days for those with incomplete vaccination, as well as those who have not been vaccinated.

“The place of quarantine would follow approval given by the Home Quarantine Application (HQA), and those who do not receive approval to quarantine at home would have to make reservations at a hotel identified as a quarantine station under MyTravelSafe at https://safetravel.myeg.com.my/.

“Those who come from high-risk countries and undergo quarantine at home will be issued a digital tracker.

“The high-risk countries would be announced by the Health Ministry based on risk analysis conducted from time to time. The lists would be issued at all international entry points for further action,” he said.

Dr Noor Hisham added that these people would need to undergo screening using RT-PCR test kits upon arrival.

“Those under a seven-day quarantine would need to also undergo another test on day five while those under a 10-day quarantine would need to undergo another test on day eight.

“A risk assessment would be carried out on these travellers on day seven or day 10 before they are released from quarantine.

“With this declaration, all previous announcements are nullified,” he said.

Earlier, Dr Noor Hisham said 5,551 new Covid-19 cases were recorded yesterday, bringing the cumulative number of cases to 2,649,578.

A total of 5,301 cases recovered, bringing the cumulative number of recovery cases to 2,556,554.

In a statement, he said of the positive cases, 78 cases were in Categories Three, Four and Five while 5,473 cases were in Categories One and Two.

“Six new clusters were recorded on Friday, bringing the number of active clusters to 228,” he said.

On the most recent school cluster, Dr Noor Hisham said 19 teachers, 10 staffers and 114 students tested positive under the Persiaran Tasik cluster at Sekolah Seri Puteri in Cyberjaya.

The school had been closed temporarily for disinfection and cleaning purposes.