Quarantined travellers from countries with Omicron must wear digital trackers, VTL travellers must get tested 48 hours before travel

Additional precautionary public health measures will come into effect tomorrow for travellers from countries earmarked with reported cases of the new Omicron COVID-19 variant, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin announced today.

An explainer released categorised those who would be affected by the new regulations into six main categories; those travelling under the land and air Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) the country shares with Singapore, incoming tourists as part of the Langkawi International Travel Bubble (LITB), and businessmen arriving here on a One Stop Centre (OSC) pass for short term stays.

The remaining two categories are those coming from countries where inbound travel has been temporarily barred in response to the Omicron variant, and travellers arriving here from countries with reported cases of the new variant’s community infections.

Khairy said individuals entering the country either under the VTL, LITB, or OSC programmes must first ensure they are fully vaccinated, and undergo a CT-PCR COVID-19 swab test at least 48 hours prior to their travel dates.

This has shortened the previous requirement that required tests done at least 72 hours prior to travelling.

Travellers under these programmes would also be subjected to COVID-19 tests upon entry and must take conduct personal tests using the self-test kits on day two, day four, and day six after arriving.

“They would also need to undergo a professional RTK-Ag antigen rapid test on the third and fifth day after arriving. All test results must be reported through the MySejahtera application,” he said.

As for travellers, both Malaysians and non-locals, arriving from the eight countries listed on the no-arrivals list due to Omicron, they too must undergo an RT-PCR swab test two days before departing to Malaysia.

In particular, these would affect those arriving from South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Malawi.

Travellers from these eight nations must also use a digital tracking device for the entire length of their 14-day mandatory quarantine period at the designated isolation centres.

Meanwhile, travellers arriving from countries with reported cases of Omicron among the community, both Malaysians and non-locals, will also be required to get tested with an RT-PCR swab test 48 hours prior to departing.

They too would be required to use a digital tracking device on them at all times during their quarantine period, the length of which would be decided based on their vaccination status.

These would affect those arriving here from the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, France, and Norway.

Khairy said these regulations will come into effect tomorrow, December 8.

Other requirements such as the need to be isolated at a designated centre instead of undergoing home quarantine are still in effect.

He added the precautions will be altered from time to time, depending on the severity of the situation, as they closely monitor developments surrounding the new variant. —  Malay Mail