“Those returning from the UK will be tested and quarantined for 10 days. That’s what we’ve been doing and we hope that it’s sufficient. But we will step up our surveillance for those returning from the UK.”
The British government has announced strict lockdown rules because the mutation has led to a 70% increase in infections.
Reports of the mutation, and travel bans imposed by some European countries, have prompted calls for Malaysia to ban travellers from Britain. India is the latest country to ban flights from the UK.
Former prime minister Najib Razak also urged the government to restore the 14-day quarantine period for travellers from Europe. He said Sweden, Canada, Turkey and Saudi Arabia had already started barring travellers from the UK.
Health experts have different views
Malaysian Medics International chairman Dr Vikkineshwaran Siva Subramaniam suggested that Malaysia consider barring South African travellers as a new and more severe Covid-19 variant had also been detected there.
He said the Covid-19 virus seemed to be very volatile, making it difficult to predict its behaviour, and the new strain had offset many earlier decisions.
On whether Malaysia’s quarantine period should be changed, he said the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention continued to endorse a 14-day quarantine period.
The best option would be to restrict entry into Malaysia in the meantime, on top of pre-flight screenings and the mandatory quarantine.
“We are not even close to the end of the tunnel yet. All our hard work this past year is at risk of becoming void. We cannot be complacent now. We need to toughen up.”
Galen Centre chief executive Azrul Mohd Khalib was opposed to a longer quarantine period or a ban on UK travellers.
He said what was more important was for greater availability and deployment of the Covid-19 vaccine coupled with pre-flight screenings and mandatory quarantine. “These are essential and they suffice. The period of quarantine is based on a better understanding of the coronavirus today and is in line with international recommendations.”
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