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Health DG: Malaysia monitoring situation in UK closely

Dec 22, 2020

Returnees from Britain will be allowed entry into Malaysia even after a new and highly infectious Covid-19 strain discovered in the UK.

But, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah assured Malaysians that quarantine is still compulsory for all incoming travellers.

"Those returnees from the UK will be tested, and be quarantined for a period of 10 days, so that’s what we’ve been doing and we hope that will be sufficient but we will step up our surveillance for those who are returning from the UK.” 

He says Malaysia faced a similar situation in August following the discovery of the highly infectious D614G strain in Kedah that led to the detection of several clusters.

The Health ministry reported 2,018 new Covid-19 cases - the third-highest in a day since the pandemic hit the country.

Selangor topped the list once again recording 1,204 new cases, followed by Johor and Sabah.

Singapore has received its first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines, making it the first Asian country to take in the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.

Earlier, its PM said vaccinations in the Republic will be voluntary and priority will be given to those at greatest risk, such as front liners and healthcare workers, as well as the elderly and the vulnerable.