Ministry of Health announces additional measures to curb Covid-19, as travellers from China return

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 30 — The Ministry of Health (MoH) announced today a series of additional precautionary measures to deal with the potential upsurge of China’s travellers after the country recently reopened its border for international travelling.

This includes fever screenings for all incoming travellers including those from China, and referring suspected cases from those with a travel history to China or contact with those who did to immediate Covid-19 testing.

“To improve detection of any new variants, all cases of influenza-like illnesses (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) in healthcare facilities with a travel history to China in the last 14 days, or with any contact with individuals with a travel history to China in the last 14 days, will be tested with RTK-Ag Covid-19 test and then genome sequencing if they are found positive with Covid-19,” minister Dr Zaliha Mustaffa said in a statement.

Additionally, surveillance for Covid-19 will also include testing samples of wastewater from planes coming from China — where they will be sent for PCR test and genome sequencing if tested positive for Covid-19.

Those who showed fever or symptoms, or self-declared themselves so, will be referred to quarantine centres or health authorities for re-examination — and tested for Covid-19 if needed.

The ministry said that the World Health Organisation (WHO) had recorded a high number of 148,659 new Covid-19 infections and 442 new deaths in China from December 11 to December 17.

Yesterday, Transport Minister Anthony Loke said Malaysia would see a surge in flight demand following the re-opening of China’s borders, which will be implemented by its government on January 8 after nearly three years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In response, Malaysia Tourism Agency Association was quoted urging the government to temporarily suspend the entry of tourists from China into the country.

This comes as the ministry announced today that the country's status as an “infected local area” since 2020 would be extended until June 30, 2023 from the initial end date of December 31 this year.

It said the extension is made to facilitate the ministry's efforts to prevent and handle Covid-19 infections under the Prevention and Control Of Infectious Diseases (Measures Within Infected Local Areas) Regulations 2022 which stipulates measures under the National Recovery Plan during the country's transition phase to endemic.

“This extension was gazetted on December 27, 2022 through the Prevention and Control Of Infectious Diseases (Declaration of Infected Local Areas) (Extension of Operation) (No. 2) Regulations 2022,” Dr Zaliha said.

The “infected local area” status was previously extended from July 1 to December 31 this year.

On a separate note, she said that MoH will start offering walk-in vaccination to certain groups beginning on January 9 next year to encourage vaccination among the high-risk communities.

Those included in this programme are people with comorbidities including chronic diseases, senior citizens aged 60 and above, and individuals who are at risk of Covid-19 complications.

Malaysia has seen a significant drop in its daily Covid-19 infection since the beginning of December. The country recorded 679 new cases today compared to the four-figure 2,375 new cases on December 1.