KUALA LUMPUR: Fully-vaccinated individuals who test positive for all variants of COVID-19 and are asymptomatic must undergo isolation for seven days, said Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

He said individuals positive for COVID-19 who are not fully vaccinated or unvaccinated or symptomatic, must undergo the mandatory 10-day isolation.

Meanwhile, close contacts of COVID-19 positive cases who are fully vaccinated and have received their booster shot will be required to undergo a five-day quarantine.

"For close contacts who have been fully vaccinated but not received their booster shot, not fully vaccinated or unvaccinated must undergo quarantine for seven days.

"Close contacts who are symptomatic must undergo the RTK-Ag COVID-19 screening test, self-test or go to the nearest health facility to get further treatment," he said in a statement today.

Khairy said all new isolation and quarantine procedures will be effective tomorrow (Jan 16) and will also be applicable to those who are already undergoing isolation and quarantine.

He explained that the new ruling was made after the Ministry of Health (MOH) re-evaluated the surveillance and observation period based on data, science and experiences from other countries relating to the management of positive COVID-19 cases and close contacts of confirmed cases.

He said existing procedures for the management of travellers to Malaysia are still applicable.

He added that the MOH had also stepped up the preparedness of the health service system to face the possibility of a rise in cases caused by the Omicron variant in the country.

"As such, the MOH recommends that individuals who are eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine to take the booster dose so as to achieve the optimal level of protection," he said.

-- BERNAMA