Cross-state, district travel between green zones allowed beginning Sunday - Ismail Sabri

KUALA LUMPUR: In an effort to revitalise domestic tourism, the government today agreed to allow cross-district and state travel involving green zones starting this Sunday.

Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said such movements would not require permission from the police.

"The cross-district / state movement from a green state to a green district in a red state, is also allowed, however, permission is required from the police," he said during his press conference here today.

He said the My Sejahtera application would be used to determine if a person comes from a green zone, and the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia (MOTAC) would soon be announcing the standard operating procedures (SOP) in detail.

In another development, Ismail Sabri said today's special meeting also agreed for health screenings to be made compulsory for all foreign workers in Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Penang, Sabah, the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur and Labuan using the RTK Antigen method.

He said this was important to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infections among them.

According to him, as of Oct 31, there were a total of 1,615,834 active foreign workers in the country, while the abovementioned states had many industrial areas as well as a large number of foreign workers.

"For foreign workers who contribute to SOCSO, the cost of the test is borne by the employer and SOCSO. A subsidy of RM60 for the RTK Antigen test kit can be claimed from SOCSO and the remaining cost will be borne by the employer.

"For foreign workers who are not SOCSO contributors, the cost of the COVID-19 screening is fully borne by the employer," he said.

Ismail Sabri pointed out that the implementation of health screening on all foreign workers was based on the risk assessment that infections among foreign workers were more likely to occur than among locals.

-- BERNAMA