Kota Kinabalu: All travellers from China wanting to visit Sabah must provide a negative Covid-19 pre-departure test result before entering the State, said Sabah Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun.
Masidi, who is also Sabah’s Covid-19 spokesperson, said the pre-departure test must be carried out within 48 hours before departure, and this directive will come into effect this Sunday (Jan 1).
“This decision has been made by the Sabah Government,” he said in a statement.
Meanwhile, he said a total of 15 new positive Covid-19 cases were reported in Sabah on Friday, bringing the cumulative number of cases in the State to 406,536.
“The number of recovered Covid-19 patients today (Friday) is 46 people, making the cumulative number of recoveries to 400,146, while 124 patients are receiving treatment in hospital,” he said.
Meanwhile, PAS wants the Government to temporarily suspend the entry of all travellers from China in light of the country’s spike in Covid-19 cases.
In a statement, the party’s information chief Khairil Nizam Khirudin said the Government should pay close attention to Covid-19 case numbers in countries that have received tourists from China.
“PAS suggests that the Government be wary of the spread of new Covid-19 cases in the country.
“Malaysia needs to learn from how Covid-19 spread in 2020, when no measures were in place initially to prevent the entry of foreigners who may have been infected,” he said.
The Health Ministry announced that all travellers arriving in Malaysia will have to undergo temperature checks for fever amid concerns over a surge in Covid-19 cases in China.
On Friday, Malaysia Tourism Agency Association (Mata) also urged the Government to temporarily suspend the entry of tourists from China until the number of daily Covid-19 cases in the country declines.
Mata President Khalid Harun said the surge in the number of Covid-19 cases in China had increased the potential for new variants of the virus to emerge, causing concern to Malaysians, especially tourism industry players.
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