KUALA LUMPUR, May 10 — The Reciprocal Green Lane (RGL) for businesses travellers between Malaysia and Singapore will be suspended from Thursday, May 13, Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah announced today.

The Health director-general said the decision was made after Singapore reported Covid-19 transmissions involving Variants of Concern (VOC).

"It is based on reports that were published by the Singaporean Health Ministry, where cases involving the B.1.351 South African variant, the B.1.1.7 United Kingdom variant, the B.1.128 Brazilian variant, and the Variant of Interest from India which is the B.1.617.1 variant were reported,” he wrote in a statement today.

Dr Noor Hisham said the National Security Council then decided to suspend the Malaysian side of the RGL, and impose a mandatory 14-day quarantine to travellers from the island nation entering the country under the Period Communicating Arrangement (PCA), both beginning May 13.

"Travellers from Singapore who wish to enter the country for business purposes (after May 13) are required to use the One Stop Centre (OSC) which has been provided by MIDA (Malaysian Investment Development Authority),” he added.

Last month, Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced that travellers arriving here from countries which report transmissions of Covid-19 VOCs would be subjected to a mandatory 14-day quarantine as opposed to the 10-day period previously announced.