PUTRAJAYA – The government has agreed to exempt 18,600 local tertiary students travelling out of Sabah, Sarawak, or the peninsula from paying the Covid-19 screening fee.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba said the students involved, all divided into three categories, were exempt from paying for the test at Health Ministry facilities.
“The categories involved are students from Sarawak, Labuan, and the peninsula (heading) to Sabah; students from Sabah to the peninsula, Sarawak, and Labuan; as well as students from the peninsula and Labuan to Sarawak,” he said.
Speaking at a virtual press conference yesterday, Dr Adham said the move was expected to cost the government about RM2.79 million.
He said the decision was taken in line with the government’s efforts to curb the spread of Covid-19, as it requires all students to undergo Covid-19 screening tests before beginning their study sessions.
Dr Adham also said that 80,336 individuals had received the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine so far, the majority of whom were frontliners listed under phase one of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme, which began on February 24.
According to him, about 271 million people have received Covid-19 vaccines worldwide, with the United States recording the highest number of recipients at 80.5 million, followed by China (52.5 million), the European Union (35.6 million), and the United Kingdom (21.5 million).
He said Malaysia ranked 68th out of the total number of countries that have and are currently receiving vaccines. – Bernama, March 5, 2021
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