KUCHING, June 25: Overseas travellers entering Sarawak will have to undergo quarantine at the ‘first point of entry’ in Malaysia for 14 or 21 days and obtained negative swab test before continuing their journey to Sarawak where they will observe a shorter quarantine period before being released upon first negative swab test.
All travellers from abroad are required to apply for entry via the EnterSarawak system.
The State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC), in its daily updates on the Covid-19 situation in Sarawak, announced this as Sarawak has agreed to follow the latest travel restrictions and procedures issued by Ministry of Health (MOH) on June 15, with additional regulations for entry into the State.
Effective immediately, travellers from India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are required to obtain negative rT-PCR Covid-19 test results three days prior to their departure and arrival at the international gateway.
These arrivals will also need to undergo quarantine for 21 days at the first point of entry and obtain negative swab test results on the 18th day before allowed to enter Sarawak.
Upon arrival in Sarawak within 24 hours after quarantine released, they will be quarantined at a facility in the State until the first negative swab test result before being released.
As for travellers from other countries, a negative swab test report three days prior to departure and arrival at the international gateway is compulsory.
Arrivals will undergo quarantine for 14-days at the first point of entry and to obtain a negative test result on 10th day prior to entering the State.
Upon arrival in Sarawak, they will then serve a seven-day quarantine period at a designated facility with swab test to be carried out on the fourth day.
SDMC emphasised that the changes to the Covid-19 travel regulations and guidelines including quarantine period were made following risks assessment that was carried out from time to time.
The decisions implemented, SDMC added were crucial to prevent the spread of Covid-19 variants from outside Sarawak into the State particularly involving variants of concern (VOC) and variants of interest (VOI) that were found to be fast-spreading and increased the risk of deaths.
These travel procedures are imposed to guard Sarawak particular against the high transmissibility and very dangerous Delta B.1.617.2 variant with local cases already reported in Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan, as well as Johor, Negeri Sembilan and Perlis. — DayakDaily
