Khairy: No need to undergo 6-day COVID-19 tests for prog travellers from abroad effective March 3

KUALA LUMPUR: Travellers arriving in Malaysia from abroad through various programmes will not be required to undergo the six-day COVID-19 tests upon arrival effective Thursday (March 3).

In a statement today, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the new procedure applied to travellers entering Malaysia via the air and land Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) programme, Langkawi International Tourism Bubble (LITB) and One Stop Centre (OSC) for short-term business visitors.

He said the Health Ministry (MOH) had also dropped the requirement to undergo the COVID-19 RT-PCR or RTK-Ag (professional) test for travellers arriving in Malaysia under the LITB programme before leaving Langkawi island.

Apart from that, Khairy said MOH also dropped the rule to undergo RTK-Ag self-testing for travellers arriving from the United Kingdom which previously had to be done daily during the quarantine period.

Khairy said that also lifted was the need for a liaison officer for short-term business travellers under the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) who use OSC facilities to enter Malaysia.

"However, they need to follow the controlled itinerary that is issued and approved by the OSC committee," he said.

"The COVID-19 test which needs to be conducted two days before departure to Malaysia and upon arrival in Malaysia is still maintained as per the existing protocol.

"I would like to emphasise once again that this new procedure only applies to travellers who enter Malaysia through the VTL, LITB and OSC programmes only," he said.

Khairy added that for travellers who do not enter Malaysia through the three programmes, the existing SOP and protocols are still in effect.

-- BERNAMA