Ismail Sabri: 225 returnees yet to get second Covid-19 test
KUALA LUMPUR, July 14 — Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said 225 Malaysian returnees have not undergone their second Covid-19 test needed to end their mandatory home quarantine.
Ismail Sabri said their locations were known to the authorities and warned them that failure to undergo the test was an offence.
“I don’t want to accuse them of anything maybe they might have forgotten the date for the test. We urge them to head to the nearest hospitals to complete the second test,” he told a press conference at the Parliament lobby today.
He reiterated that failure to undergo the tests could result in a compound or further prosecution that could attract additional fines and imprisonment.
Ismail Sabri said the authorities viewed such failures as serious violations of the standard operating procedure for the country’s Covid-19 recovery phase, adding that these were also for the wellbeing of the returnees and their families.
“For example, in Melaka, a student who returned from Russia and initially tested negative of Covid-19, has come into contact with her father.
“By right she should have isolated herself in her room for 14 days until the second test is done. However, she tested positive later and the father was also infected,” he said, adding that authorities were now screening all of the families close contacts.
He reminded Malaysians wishing to return here must complete a Covid-19 test three days before departing for Malaysia, saying that airlines now required proof they were free of the disease before allowing them to board.
Separately, Ismail Sabri said foreigners working in Malaysia may not leave the country for non-work purposes.
“If they want to go on vacation, then these foreigners will not be allowed to return to Malaysia until the allocated time,” he said.
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