PUTRAJAYA – The Health Ministry will propose to the government that flights from India be halted to prevent the spread of the South Asian country’s double-mutant Covid-19 variant in Malaysia.
Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba said the proposal will be presented at a special National Security Council meeting later today.
“This is an important policy decision, and we want the government to take immediate action,” he told a press conference here.
It was recently reported that the Indian capital, New Delhi, was placed under lockdown following a fresh wave of infections, believed to involve the double-mutant variant.
Dr Adham said the ministry will also propose that all travellers arriving from countries that have reported the spread of new variants of concern (VOC) undergo compulsory quarantine for 14 days, instead of the previous 10.
“It will be made mandatory for them to undergo quarantine at gazetted locations.
“This proposal follows concern that symptoms from the mutant variants emerge only on the 10th or 11th day.
“We have two options. Travellers on direct flights from VOC countries will be compelled to observe a 14-day quarantine, while for transit passengers, the quarantine period will be calculated on the day they arrive in the country.”
According to a World Health Organisation report, there are three types of VOC, namely B.1.351, which was first reported in South Africa, B.1.1.7 (the United Kingdom) and B.1.1.28 or P1 (Brazil and Japan). – Bernama, April 26, 2021
