KUCHING, April 8: International travellers entering Sarawak must show negative PCR test results that were taken 48 hours before departure, says Transport Minister Dato Sri Lee Kim Shin.
He also said the travellers may download and update their MySejahtera app online and purchase Health Insurance coverage including Covid-19 of not less than USD20,000.
“In this regard, we need assistance from the airlines to inform the passengers before boarding their flight from the country of departure,” he said in a statement today.
At the same time, he informed that Sarawak has increased its number of incoming flights from 576 to 615 weekly.
He said the decision was approved by the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) on Wednesday (April 6) in conjunction with the reopening of national borders to all travellers, regardless of vaccination status, as the country transitions to the endemic phase effective April 1.
“We hope that Brunei and Indonesia will soon open their border to all travellers other than those specified under essential services and on medical grounds,” he added.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, the growing number of visitors to Sarawak since 2010 has increased from 3,270,655 to 4,662,419 in 2019.
However, due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of visitors coming into the State has gone down to 1,199,872 in 2020 and reduced further to only 235,245 visitors in 2021.
“We trust that the increased of flight frequencies will create the availability and choices of flight, reduction in the flight fare and will attract more visitors coming to Sarawak.
“We anticipate that there will be huge momentum in people movement in the next couple of months as people are yearning to travel and as other countries start to open their borders and transition into the endemic phase,” he emphasised. — DayakDaily
