PUTRAJAYA: The three-day quarantine and surveillance period for ministers returning from official visits abroad as provided under Section 29 of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (Exemption) Order 2021 is not a blanket procedure.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the length of the period would depend on the risk evaluation conducted by the Health Ministry before a minister departs for the trip.
Explaining the procedure involved under Section 29, Dr Noor Hisham said prior to the trip abroad, a minister is first required to apply for an Exemption Order with the Cabinet for approval.
"Once approval is obtained from the Cabinet, we (the ministry) will conduct a risk evaluation by scrutinising the activities involved during the official visit.
"The (full scope of the) activities must be briefed. The activities must also not involve large crowds or take place in public places.
"The most important thing is that the mode of transportation for the official visit must be via a private aircraft.
"Official trips where commercial flights are used would not be considered (to be granted the Exemption Order)," he said during a press conference on the Covid-19 situation in the country here today.
He also elaborated on the wordings used to explain the conditions of the Exemption Order.
"The condition states that Cabinet ministers who return from official visits abroad will only have to undergo three days of observation or surveillance until they are discharged.
"I would like to emphasize the wording of the provision, in which a minister who returns from an official visit abroad could be placed under surveillance for a period of seven days or 14 days and have the surveillance period extended to 21 days (until the ministry is satisfied that the minister would not pose any danger to the public after being discharged).
"The three-day period would only be granted after a risk evaluation and once the ministry is satisfied with the (travel) bubble related to the official visit," he said.
Section 29 of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (Exemption) Order 2021, exempts ministers from Section 15 of the same order. Section 15 requires individuals who are allowed to enter the country or returning from abroad to be placed under a 10-day mandatory quarantine period upon arrival.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba, in exercising the powers conferred to him by Section 29, signed the federal gazette which took effect today (Feb 9).