KUALA LUMPUR – E-hailing vehicles will be allowed to operate at full capacity from tomorrow, in an announcement that comes with a raft of standard operating procedure relaxations announced by Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob today.
Rest and service stations will be allowed to operate 24 hours, and cyber cafes are also set to reopen on Sunday as the nation has recorded daily Covid-19 numbers below 10,000 for two straight weeks, and a decline in infectivity rate to an R-naught value of 0.86.
The prime minister said in a statement today that the Special Committee on Pandemic Management today decided to allow the following regions to transit in phases effective Monday:
- Kelantan, Perak, Pulau Pinang, Sabah, and Kedah from Phase 2 to Phase 3
- Melaka and Klang Valley from Phase 3 to Phase 4
“With the transition in phases for the aforementioned states, Malaysia as a whole has now moved to Phase 3,” said Ismail Sabri.
Effective Monday, the time required for foreign visitors to quarantine has been reduced to seven days at home for those fully vaccinated and 10 days at quarantine stations for those who have not completed their shots.
The time required for close contacts of Covid-19 patients to quarantine at home has also been reduced to seven days for the fully vaccinated and 10 days for the unvaccinated.
Muslims will be allowed to fulfill their umrah from Monday onwards without having to go through the now-abolished MyTravelPass, dependent on SOPs.
In-person meetings, incentives, conventions, and exhibitions will be allowed at 50% capacity for the fully vaccinated effective Monday, provided they have tested negative via saliva or RTK-Ag tests, comply with physical distancing, and wear face masks.
Cyber cafes in Phase 3 states will be allowed to reopen at 80% capacity from Sunday onwards, and those in Phase 4 states at full capacity.
Meanwhile, Ismail Sabri said the special committee meeting also agreed to implement a pilot test-and-release protocol programme, with strict and limited travel conditions or itineraries for official visits to identified groups of travellers.
This involves the country’s leaders, ministers, deputy ministers, menteri besar, chief ministers, state government executive councillors, MPs, and government officials.
“The implementation of this pioneer programme will take effect on October 18 and will be expanded to business travellers in the nearest future,” he said.
According to him, among the conditions imposed is the submission of applications within the stipulated period together with supporting documents to the National Security Council and Health Ministry for approval.
Apart from that, travellers must undergo the PCR test three days prior to returning to Malaysia and upon arrival at any of the country’s entry points.
Ismail Sabri said the conditions are limited to travellers arriving from low-risk countries only, applicable to fully vaccinated individuals. – The Vibes, October 15, 2021
