KUALA LUMPUR: The government has tightened the standard operating procedures (SOP) for travellers entering Malaysia in light of the emergence of the Omicron Covid-19 variant.
Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, in a statement today, said the new rulings will affect six categories of travellers starting tomorrow.
They comprise travellers under the Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) for both air and land, those in the Langkawi International Travel Bubble (LITB), One Stop Centre (OSC), travellers from the eight countries that are temporarily barred by the government, and countries where the Omicron variant has spread within the community.
"As of Dec 6, a total of 43 countries have reported Omicron variants. Of these countries, travellers from eight countries have been temporarily barred starting Nov 27 while there are five countries where Omicron have already been spreading in the community.
"The eight countries are South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Malawi while countries with Omicron community cases are the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, France and Norway," he said.
Khairy said travellers under the VTL-Air, VTL-Land, LITB and OSC must be fully-vaccinated.
"They must undergo a RT-PCR test two days before departure, replacing the prior ruling requiring one to be tested 72-hours before departure.
"They will also need to take another Covid-19 test upon arrival, conduct an RTK-Antigen self-test on days two, four and six after arrival, and an RTK-Antigen professional test on days three and five.
"They must report the results of each test on the MySejahtera application," he said.
As for travellers from the eight African countries and five countries with community Omicron cases, they would also need to take the RT-PCR test 48 hours before departure.
"All travellers arriving from these two categories will need to wear a digital tracking device throughout their quarantine period.
"Malaysians and foreigners with long-term social visit passes will have to be quarantined for 14 days at designated centres, regardless their vaccination status. The existing quarantine and testing procedures are still in effect.
"As for Malaysians and non-citizens returning from the UK, the US, Australia, France and Norway, the quarantine period will depend on their vaccination status," he said.
In a subsequent tweet, Khairy said the Health Ministry has implemented further preemptive measures to prevent and control the spread of the Omicron variant.
"We have issued further preemptive measures in light of Omicron. VTL and Langkawi bubble travellers will need to test every day for seven days after arrival. Travellers from the UK, US, Australia, France and Norway on home quarantine will need to wear a digital tracking device."