‘Surprise’ quarantine after a short trip



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JOHOR BARU: A woman who traveled from Johor to Singapore for a short business trip under the Reciprocal Green Lane (RGL) agreement was shocked to find that she had to be quarantined for 14 days upon returning to Malaysia.

Madame Tay said that the telecommunications company she worked for in Singapore had submitted her RGL application before her week-long business trip.

But she was unprepared for a 14-day quarantine in a hotel after the trip.

He said that more information on these quarantine procedures should be posted online on the Malaysian and Singaporean websites for the benefit of RGL applicants.

Tay, a permanent resident of Singapore, was horrified to learn of the two-week quarantine, as she had two children at home, accompanied by her Indonesian maid.

“I made this trip thinking that I would be quarantined after returning from Singapore.

“Even my company didn’t know about this when it applied for my RGL from Singapore.

“I also hope that Malaysia will accelerate testing for Covid-19. In Singapore, I got my results in 24 hours, ”he said, adding that many people could stop applying for RGL due to the two-week quarantine.

RGL allows 400 Malays and Singaporeans to travel to and from the two countries each week for official travel or business matters.

In addition to RGL, there is also the Periodic Transfer Agreement (PCA), according to which 2000 residents of both countries with long-term work permits can cross the Causeway and the Second Link per day.

Both went into effect on August 17.

Another permanent resident of Malaysia and Singapore known as Hwan, who used RGL to enter Singapore for a business trip, said that he, too, was shocked when told to self-quarantine for fifteen days at a hotel here after a trip. 11 days to the island. republic.

“I don’t understand the justification for such a long quarantine under RGL.

“Under PCA, it is only 48 hours before the results of the swab test are published and the patient is allowed to cut the bracelet,” he said, adding that he had to fork out 2,100 ringgit for his 14-day quarantine.

His trip to Singapore, he added, was organized by his company and he was not eligible to travel under PCA as he is a permanent resident without FIN.

(Singapore’s Ministry of Labor issues FIN, an acronym for Foreign Identification Number, to Malaysians who apply for work passes there.)

Hwan acknowledged that it was important for Malaysia to follow Singapore’s move and begin easing travel restrictions by imposing only a seven-day quarantine upon returning to Malaysia for those traveling under RGL.

Meanwhile, checks on the Singapore Ministry of Health website showed that Singapore has reduced the Stay-at-Home Notice (SHN) from 14 to seven days for people traveling from low-risk countries or regions from 1 of September.

In addition to Malaysia, other low-risk countries identified are Australia (excluding the state of Victoria), Macao, mainland China, Taiwan, and Vietnam.

Those with their own homes can serve the seven-day SHN at home, while others can do it at a hotel. But they are required to test for Covid-19.



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