Malaysians who return from overseas will not have to undergo the mandatory quarantine at the respective quarantine centres, effective June 10, said Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob. – File photo
KUCHING: Malaysians who return from overseas will not have to undergo the mandatory quarantine at the respective quarantine centres, effective June 10, said Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
The Senior Minister (Security Cluster) said the Cabinet had decided to change the policy and allow those returning from overseas and tested negative for Covid-19 to undergo home quarantine.
“Upon their arrival at the airport, they will undergo swab test. Those tested positive will be sent to hospital for treatment while those tested negative will be allowed to go home to be quarantined at home.
“They must download MySejahtera and use the wrist band to facilitate the identification process. They will be monitored through the MySejahtera app and during home quarantine, they cannot leave home,” he told the daily update press conference in Putrajaya today.
Ismail Sabri said any individuals who were found flouting such standard operating procedures (SOP) as published under the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 (Act 342) will be compounded RM1,000 or charged in court.
He added that those found guilty of the offence by the court would be penalised or face jail time.
“We change this policy based on our data which showed that only one per cent of the total Malaysians returning from overseas were tested Covid-19 positive.”
He said it was also observed that the Covid-19 situation in many countries across the globe had been under control, with the number of positive cases on a downtrend.
At present, Ismail Sabri said Malaysia had also enhanced its testing capacity, which would enable test results to be made available as quickly as possible.
“Our citizens who return to the country must download MySejahtera. Make sure they have the app ready on their mobile device before they come home,” he said.
Responding to a question, he said the Minstry of Health (MoH) had given assurance that the swab test results would be available in one or two hours.
As such, he said there should not be any longer waiting time at the airport.
In the event that swab test results were not ready in an hour or so, he said these Malaysians would be sent to the quarantine centre or designated hotels while waiting for the outcome of the test.