Covid tests no longer needed for Langkawi tourists

The health ministry has decided to drop the mandatory Covid-19 test for individuals travelling to Langkawi.

Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the decision was made after taking into account the low number of tourists who had tested positive, adding that there were no Covid-19 clusters detected from the Langkawi travel bubble.

This also follows the decision by the government to allow interstate travel, he said.

Khairy said the condition for all Langkawi travellers to be fully vaccinated, however, remains. He also encouraged them to undertake Covid-19 self-tests before embarking on their journey.

“Those who test positive and are in isolation and observation or identified as close contacts to positive cases in quarantine or under surveillance order, are not allowed to travel,” he said in a statement.

Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob on Sunday said the government had agreed to allow individuals who have been fully vaccinated to travel to other states without having to obtain police permission.

He said the decision was made after the rate of fully vaccinated adults under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) hit 90%.

Khairy said up to last Sunday, 54,341 tourists had taken Covid-19 test with 216 or 0.4% testing positive while in Langkawi, while only one showed symptoms and later tested positive.

“Investigations showed that the source of infection was not in Langkawi,” he said.

The government, when implementing the Langkawi tourism bubble project on Sept 16, made it mandatory for all visitors to be subjected to a Covid-19 screening test before entering the island.