The Malaysia National Security Council (NSC) has reported over the weekend that travelers arriving from countries that have reported cases of the new SARS COV-2 strains will have to undergo a 14-day quarantine, instead of the 7 or 10-day duration currently in place. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the three variants reported under the VOC (volatile organic compounds) are B.1.351 from South Africa, B.1.1.7 from United Kingdom, and B.1.1.28 or P1 from Brazil and Japan.
At the moment, the authorities in Malaysia have not yet clarified which countries will trigger the increased 14-day quarantine. T&S is closely monitoring further announcements made by the NSC and the Ministry of Health (MOH) in this regard.
It is important to note that pre-arrival procedures/requirements remain unchanged:
- Securing a negative RT-PRC test taken within 72 hours prior to the arrival in Malaysia
- Obtaining a Travel Notice / Permission to Travel from the Malaysian Embassy / High Commission in the country of departure (with the signed LOU)
- Downloading and activating the MYSejahtera App
- Paying for Quarantine & Screening charges online at MySafeTravel (myeg.com.my)
For additional questions regarding this alert, please contact the T&S APAC immigration team at apac@tandslaw.com.
