[Malaysia] Six days of Covid-19 testing for select travellers
KUALA LUMPUR: International and local travellers for the Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) by air and land, Langkawi International Travel Bubble (LITB) and One Stop Centre (OSC) for short-term business visitors will have to undergo Covid-19 test for six days after arriving in Malaysia.
Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the requirement would take effect tomorrow and was a move to strengthen the Ministry of Health (MOH)’s existing precautionary and control measures to prevent the transmission and spread of the Omicron variant in the country.
“Travellers under these categories must undergo Covid-19 detection test upon arrival in Malaysia, RTK-Ag test or Rapid Antigen Test (self-test) on the second, fourth and sixth day after arrival.
“They would also need to undergo a professional RTK-Ag test on the third and fifth day after arriving. In addition, LITB travellers must undergo an RT-PCR test at least 48 hours earlier before leaving Langkawi island.
“All test results must be reported through the MySejahtera application,” he said in a statement.
Khairy, reported Bernama, said those travellers must also ensure that they are fully vaccinated and must undergo RT-PCR tests at least 48 hours prior to their travel dates, replacing the previous procedure set 72 hours before departure.
Meanwhile, he said travellers from five countries with reported cases of Omicron in the community, namely the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, France and Norway, will be required to get tested with an RT-PCR swab test 48 hours before departing to Malaysia.
He added that they, too, would be required to use a digital tracking device on them at all times during their mandatory quarantine period.
Khairy said travellers (Malaysian citizens and long-term visit pass holders) arriving from the temporary travel ban in eight countries must also use a digital tracking device at the designated isolation centres during their 14-day mandatory quarantine period.
According to him, the preventive measures will be reviewed from time to time.
As of yesterday, 43 countries have reported Omicron-related cases.
On Nov 27, Malaysia has listed eight countries on temporary travel restrictions, namely, South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Malawi.
