KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 26 — The Ministry of Health (MOH) recorded 11 more Covid-19 cases here today, involving those returning from Sabah, its director-general Tan Sri Noor Hisham Abdullah announced.
In a statement today, Dr Noor Hisham said that owing to the increased number of cases, just after 10 people who returned from Sabah tested positive for the virus, MOH would be introducing mandatory swab tests for all other returnees.
He said that the swab tests would be conducted beginning tomorrow, until October 10.
“Today, 11 more Covid-19 positive cases were detected in peninsular Malaysia after they returned from Sabah,” Dr Noor Hisham said.
He said an uptick has been noted Sabah clusters, adding that four districts have been identified as red zones after recording over 40 Covid-19 cases in the last two weeks.
Dr Noor Hisham said returnees to the peninsula from Sabah must download the MySejahtera smartphone application and upon arrival, take the swab test for Covid-19.
All returnees to the peninsula from Sabah would be given the Home Surveillance Order (HSO) letter and the quarantine wristband. Their self-quarantine will start from the moment of arrival until their lab test results are obtained.
“If there are individuals who need to continue their journey to their respective homes by public transport such as taxis and Grab, a letter of permission to go to the designated address will be given on that day.
“If one experiences respiratory tract infection symptoms within 14 days from the date of return, the individual must undergo a repeated screening for Covid-19,” Dr Noor Hisham said.
The silver lining would be that all those returning from Sabah, whether they are Malaysian or foreigners, will be exempt from paying the screening cost.
