Malaysia bans travel to 7 African countries starting tomorrow November 27 due to concerns about the new B.1.1.529 Covid-19 variant.
The temporarily ban includes South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, and Zimbabwe.
Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said Malaysians would not be allowed to travel to these countries.
However, citizens and those with work permits in these countries will be allowed to return but must undergo 14 days of quarantine at designated centres regardless of their vaccination status.
“The health ministry views the emergence of this new variant seriously and we will improve genomic surveillance, including on arriving individuals from countries that have reported cases of this new variant.
“Continuous genomic surveillance is conducted by a consortium which consists of the MoH, the Institute for Medical Research (IMR), the science, technology and innovation ministry and the higher education ministry,” Khairy said at a press conference.
