Malaysia to impose entry ban on countries with more than 150,000 Covid-19 cases, says Sabri

Last updated on May 17th, 2021 at 11:02 am

PETALING JAYA – Senior Minister (Security Cluster)  Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced yesterday that the government will impose an entry ban on passport holders from countries with more than 150,000 recorded cases of Covid-19 starting September 7.

Countries on the list are the United States, United Kingdom, Brazil, France, Italy, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Russia as well as the previously announced India, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Sabri said that the country expects to add more on the list as the Covid-19 continues to record spike of cases around the world.

Malaysia would also make exceptions for emergency cases involving bilateral relations but would require permission from the Immigration Department.

The Health Ministry will be announcing the details in the following days.

The entry ban will cover six categories of passport holders such as permanent resident status (PR) Malaysia My Second Home Programme (MM2H), expatriates, students and resident pass holders. Spouses of Malaysian citizens and their children will also be denied entry.

The Senior Minister said that the government will allow Malaysian citizens from high-risk countries to return home but they will be subjected to a 14-day mandatory quarantine that was included in the standard operating procedures (SOP) being imposed by the government.

Sabri also reminded the public to keep practising wearing face masks, washing their hands and social distancing as the SOP compliance is high as Act 342 and the police can carry out the enforcement.