[ad_1]
COVID-19 | Starting tomorrow through October 10, all travelers arriving from Sabah will be required to undergo Covid-19 testing upon arrival at their airports and destination entrances.
Additionally, they will be asked to self-quarantine at home, albeit only until the test results are ready instead of the typical 14-day period.
The director general of the Ministry of Health, Dr. Noor Hisham Abdullah, said that the measure was necessary because of the increase in Covid-19 cases that are linked to the history of travel to Sabah, which has seen a wave of new cases. since the beginning of the month.
Between September 20 and 25, it said there were 10 cases of travelers returning from Sabah.
Today, there were 11 other new cases in Peninsular Malaysia among travelers returning from the state.
“The increase in Covid-19 cases and clusters in Sabah still continues and four districts have been identified as red zones after registering more than 40 cases in the last 14 days.
“Taking into account the situation, it is necessary to implement prevention and control measures of Covid-19 in people with a history of travel in Sabah to monitor the risk of transmission of these people,” said Noor Hisham in a statement today, adding that compliance of the new measures were mandatory.
No fee will be charged for mandatory testing, even for non-citizens.
Although the period for mandatory testing and quarantine will end after October 10, Noor Hisham said this is subject to review from time to time, based on the latest risk assessments.
Explaining the procedures, Noor Hisham said travelers should use the MySejahtera app to check in when arriving from Sabah at a domestic or international gate.
They will then undergo respiratory infection symptom screening and Covid-19 tests, and will be issued a Home Surveillance Order (HSO), as well as a quarantine bracelet.
“The date of the HSO starts from the date of arrival at the entrance until the result of the laboratory is obtained. The HSO release will be issued if the lab test result is negative for Covid-19.
“If there are people who continue the journey home by public transport, like taxi or Grab, a letter of permission will be issued for a specific address for that day.
“If there are symptoms of respiratory infection within 14 days of the date or return, the person in question must undergo repeated testing for Covid-19,” he said.
For comparison, travelers returning from abroad must serve their 14-day quarantine at designated quarantine stations, while close contacts of Covid-19 patients would be quarantined for the same period at home.
Travelers returning from abroad will also have to pay a fee for testing and quarantine.
They will also be tested twice during the quarantine period: a reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test at the start of quarantine and a rapid antibody test (RTK-Ab) on day 13 of quarantine. .
If they test positive for RT-PCR or develop symptoms during the quarantine period, they will be admitted to the hospital.
If they are RTK-Ab positive, a follow-up RT-PCR test will be done to confirm the diagnosis.
If the person under surveillance tests negative on the RTK-Ab test, they will be released from quarantine at the end of the 14-day period.
Stay up-to-date with the latest information on the outbreak in the country with MalaysiakiniThe free Covid-19 tracker.
Malaysiakini provides free access to the most important updates on the coronavirus pandemic. You can find them here.
Help keep independent media alive: subscribe to Malaysiakini.
