Malaysia to discontinue MyTravelPass, Langkawi Tourism Bubble, list of high-risk countries & more from 1 April 2022

Travellers are to abide by a new set of protocols that take effect on that date, that apply before departure for Malaysia, upon arrival, and within 24 hours of arrival.

As Malaysia transitions into the endemic phase from 1 April 2022, it will do away with seven procedures that are currently in place for travellers entering the country.

In a statement on Thursday (24 March 2022), Minister for Health Khairy Jamaluddin shared that these procedures are:

1. The current list of 18 high-risk countries for travel;
2. Application requirement for home quarantine;
3. The Malaysian Investment Development Authority's One Stop Centre programme for business travellers;
4. The Langkawi Tourism Bubble;
5. COVID-19 RT-PCR detection test by Ministry of Health officials at Kuala Lumpur International Airport;
6. MyTravelPass, and
7. The digital tracker.

Instead, travellers are to abide by a new set of protocols effective 1 April:

Before departure

1. Travellers are required to download, register, and activate the MySejahtera app;
2. Travellers are required to complete a travel declaration, including vaccination information, which can be accessed through the ‘Traveller’ icon in MySejahtera;
3. Report and upload the results of the RT-PCR Test that has been done two days before departure.
4. Meanwhile, travellers who have been infected within six to 60 days would need to report and upload the results of the Professional Antigen RTK test that has been done two days before departure;
5. Non-citizen travellers are also required to:
   • Have insurance coverage (COVID-19 and travel), and
   • State the address of accommodation in Malaysia.
6. By submitting the above information, travellers will get the following display in their MySejahtera application:
   • Traveller Card for travellers who have completed their vaccinations;
   • Home Surveillance Order (HSO) for five days for travellers who are not fully vaccinated or have not received any vaccination.
7. Travellers who do not have the Traveller Card displayed, or HSO instructions, will not be allowed to continue on their journey.

Minister Khairy stressed that travellers must ensure all information provided is correct. False declarations made are considered an offence under Section 22(d) of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 [Act 342], and on conviction, individuals will be punishable under Section 24 of the Act — fined or imprisoned, or both.

Upon arrival at the international entrance

1. Travellers will go through a fever screening with a thermal scanner or via self-referral to a health worker if they have symptoms for further examination at the health counter at the international entrance (PMA).
2. The asymptomatic traveller will proceed to the immigration counter for further review.

Within 24 hours of arrival

1. Travellers are required to undergo a professional RTK-Ag test either at a private health facility in the PMA, or outside the PMA, within 24 hours.
2. RTK-Ag test results will be obtained in the MySejahtera application. If the RTK-Ag professional test result is positive:
   • Travellers with complete vaccinations will be given an HSO for seven days at the place of accommodation for categories one and two. However, for category three and above, they would need to seek treatment at a COVID-19 Quarantine and Low-Risk Treatment Centre, or at a private hospital.
   • Travellers who are not fully vaccinated or not vaccinated will be given an HSO for five days at the place of accommodation, and are required to undergo an RT-PCR test on the fourth day or professional RTK-Ag on the fifth day. If the test of the second COVID-19 sample is found to be positive, they will be given an HSO for five days from the date the second sample is taken; if the COVID-19 results are negative, they will be released from the HSO.

Travellers with exemptions from the COVID-19 detection test

Children under the age of six (according to the year of birth) are not required to undergo pre-departure testing and on-arrival testing.

Apart from the above, Minister Khairy also shared a short update on the Malaysia-Thailand land border protocols, stating that the general protocols shared above will apply to travellers from Thailand at the moment.

"At the initial stage, only two land border gates have been agreed to be opened starting April 1, 2022, namely Bukit Kayu Hitam-Sadao and Wang Kelian-Wang Prachan. [Currently,] the Thai government is only willing to accept tourist arrivals; while for daily and frequent travellers, discussions are still underway between Malaysia and Thailand," he noted.

Finally, the minister shared that all travellers who have completed a full regimen of COVID-19 vaccines, approved under the World Health Organization's List of Emergency Use.

In addition, Malaysia will also receive vaccines that have been approved for use by regulatory authorities in other countries, even those that are not on that list. The list of types and brands of these vaccines will be updated from time to time.

ALSO READ: Malaysia-Singapore land borders open to fully-vaccinated travellers from 1 April, with no need for quarantine or testing

Lead image /  Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia Facebook