LANGKAWI: The Langkawi Development Authority (Lada) is working with two private labs on the island to carryout Covid-19 screening for tourists arriving under the pilot international travel bubble.
Lada chief executive officer Nasaruddin Abdul Mutallib said the collaboration would enable results for Covid-19 Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) screening on tourists to be obtained within an hour.
"This is in line with the SOPs (standard operating procedure) set by the government, where all international tourists arriving in the country must undergo Covid-19 screening," he told a press conference at his office here today.
Nasaruddin said although tourists are required to undergo the screening within 48 hours after their arrival under the SOPs, they are encouraged to do the test right after their arrival at the Langkawi International Airport (LIA).
"We advise travel agencies to bring international inbound visitors to the labs to undergo screening upon their arrival," he said.
For those arriving in evening flights, he said travel agents were advised to bring the tourists to the labs the next morning for Covid-19 screening.
Nasaruddin added that the Covid-19 screening was only for international visitors arriving through direct flights.
"For inbound tourists who transited at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, we will just refer to the results of their Covid-19 screening at KLIA," he said.
He added that Lada and the state Health Department were also working with Malaysia Airport Bhd to come up with a special procedures to manage the arrival of international tourists at LIA to prevent congestions and ensure a smooth handling at the arrival hall.
Nasaruddin said there would be no dedicated Covid-19 Quarantine and Low-Risk Treatment Centres (PKRC) in Langkawi for the international travel bubble, but Lada has identified 118 rooms in 20 hotels suitable for quarantine.
"We are also engaging travel agencies and tour guides, together with the state Health Department to finalise procedures to welcome and manage international tourists," he said.
Langkawi was initially opened for domestic tourism in a pilot travel bubble from Sep 16 for adults who had completed their Covid-19 vaccination.
On Oct 22, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced that Langkawi would reopen to fully vaccinated international tourists under a pilot travel bubble project.
International tourists are required to engage travel agencies to manage their trips into Langkawi besides having to undergo Covid-19 screening prior to their departure and upon arrival in Malaysia.