96 Malaysians return from India

A total of 96 Malaysians in India arrived safely at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) today on a humanitarian flight coordinated by the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) in collaboration with other agencies.

Nadma director-general Datuk Mohtar Mohd Abd Rahman said 62 of them were tabligh members stranded in India since February due to travel restrictions imposed to curb the spread of COVID-19.

“The other 34 Malaysians are staff of the Malaysian High Commission in India and their family members as well as stranded Malaysian tourists. They returned home with 11 flight crews,” he told reporters at the KLIA here.

Mohtar said the Malindo Air aircraft ferrying the Malaysians from New Delhi landed at 6.31 am.

"All the Malaysians who returned today have undergone health screenings in India and did not show any symptoms of COVID-19,” he said, adding that all of them were allowed to board the plane.

Mohtar said the returning Malaysians also underwent health screening upon arrival before they were allowed to leave the airport.

It is understood that all the Malaysians tested negative for COVID-19.

He said there were no Malaysian Ministry of Health officers accompanying the returnees on the flight, which was Nadma’s fifth humanitarian mission.

The earlier four government-organised humanitarian missions brought back Malaysians in China, Italy, Indonesia and Iran.

All the Malaysians who arrived today were taken to the Higher Education Leadership Academy (AKEPT) in Nilai for a 14-day mandatory quarantine.

They were seen taken to the surveillance centre in nine buses belonging to the Fire and Rescue Department, with 15 people in each bus to maintain social distancing.

Health screening will be conducted twice a day before they can be declared free of COVID-19 and allowed to return home after the quarantine ends at AKEPT.

Meanwhile, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Redzuan Md Yusof, in a statement today, said the returnees have to be quarantined for 14 days because they came from a high-risk country.

The surveillance centre is supervised by health officers from the Ministry of Health, he said.

“Apart from the health personnel, there is no contact with outsiders including family members. Therefore, family members or friends should understand the situation and give their full cooperation to the implementation of this surveillance.

“For security purposes, the location is guarded by the police,” he said.

-- BERNAMA