Travel ban: UK and Netherlands under review, MOH to update list daily
COVID-19 | The Health Ministry will update its travel ban list involving countries considered at high risk of spreading the new Covid-19 variant Omicron on a daily basis.
Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said on top of the eight countries already on the ban list, Malaysia is also reviewing whether to impose similar travel restrictions on five others...
COVID-19 | The Health Ministry will update its travel ban list involving countries considered at high risk of spreading the new Covid-19 variant Omicron on a daily basis.
Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said on top of the eight countries already on the ban list, Malaysia is also reviewing whether to impose similar travel restrictions on five others.
The five are the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Australia. These countries have detected the variant before it was reported by South African scientists.
"Once we have more information on the status of the cases in the countries mentioned, after having done the risk assessment, we will decide if they will be included in the list," he told a virtual press conference this afternoon.
The eight countries already on the ban list are South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Malawi.
Malawi is the latest addition, which Khairy announced during the presser.
"MOH will update the list daily, based on our risk assessment," Khairy said, adding that the ministry would also be reporting their recommendation on the no-fly list directly to the prime minister to ensure a quicker decision-making process.
According to him, the evaluation takes into consideration whether the Omicron variant detected in a country involved in-community spread or imported cases, the level of risk for it to spread and the country's vaccination coverage.
Omicron was officially identified in South Africa last week, but it is believed that the variant has been circulating much earlier, including in European countries.
Continuing VTL programme with Singapore
According to the Dutch health authority, they found the Omicron variant in test samples taken in the country on Nov 19 and 23.
Since it was alerted to the World Health Organisation (WHO) last week, more countries have reported similar findings.
Following this, Putrajaya imposed a travel ban on countries considered to have a high risk of Omicron variant outbreaks. The ban also covers foreigners who have been to the listed countries within 14 days of their arrival to Malaysia.
Khairy said the government also decided to ban Malaysians from travelling to other countries.
Malaysians and holders of long term travel passes who want to return to the country are not affected by the ban, but they are required to undergo a 14-day mandatory quarantine at a government centre.
The minister said Malaysia is continuing its vaccinated travel lane (VTL) programme with Singapore, which allows quarantine-free travel between the two countries, but participants must perform a self-test on the third and seventh day and report the result to the health authority via its MySejahtera application.
Khairy also issued several "strong advice" to Malaysians in facing the new variant during the presser.
He said Malaysian citizens who are going overseas should continue to practice standard operating procedures as per MOH advice, such as wearing face masks and physical distancing, including at places where the authorities there do not require such measures.
Senior citizens and persons with comorbidity are also advised not to travel abroad and avoid going to places that are packed.
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