KUALA LUMPUR, March 24 — The Health Ministry announced that mandatory quarantine and Covid-19 testing upon arrival will be dropped for those travelling by air between Malaysia and Singapore from April 1.

In a press conference today, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, however, said that travellers must do a Rapid Test Kit Anti-Gen (RTK-AG) test two days before departure.

"Meanwhile, for all travellers who have completed their Covid-19 vaccination who pass through the Malaysia-Singapore air border, they only need to perform a Covid-19 test within two days prior to departure and they do not need to undergo quarantine or perform Covid-19 testing upon arrival,” he said.

Meanwhile, for travellers via land, Khairy confirmed that mandatory quarantine and Covid-19 tests before departure and upon arrival would no longer be required from April 1.

This comes after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced earlier today that those travelling by land between Malaysia and Singapore no longer need to undergo mandatory quarantine or test for Covid-19 from April 1.

The Ministry of Health previously announced that from April 1 a PCR test is required two days prior to travel for those entering Malaysia and above seven years old. Travellers from Singapore are now exempt from this, requiring only a RTK test.

Ismail Sabri also said that he and his Singapore counterpart Lee Hsien Long acknowledged that Malaysia and Singapore have shown encouraging progress, particularly in terms of the implementation of vaccination programmes and Covid-19 pandemic management for their respective populations.

However, on March 9, Khairy said travellers entering Malaysia who are not vaccinated or not fully vaccinated against Covid-19 must undergo quarantine for five days.

He said that once they have completed their quarantine, the individuals must comply with the stipulated Covid-19 regulations.

The day before that, the prime minister announced that Malaysia would enter the "Transition to Endemic” phase and reopen its borders on April 1.

Ismail Sabri said fully vaccinated individuals would no longer need to undergo quarantine and only need to undergo a Covid-19 RT-PCR test two days before departure and an RTK-Ag (professional) test within 24 hours upon arrival.

The prime minister said these were compulsory procedures that Malaysians and travellers entering the country have to adhere to, taking into consideration the Covid-19 situation, especially the Omicron wave that the nation and many other countries worldwide are facing.