KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 20 — Malaysians and expatriates returning to Malaysia from abroad will now receive an answer within three days of submitting an application to undergo home quarantine, Khairy Jamaluddin said today.
The health minister, at his visit to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), revealed that the Ministry of Health (MOH) currently has a backlog of a whopping 6,000 home quarantine applications from overseas returnees, due to what he described as a “Jurassic process” of using an email address — [email protected] — to receive applications.
“This will be replaced by a process where you will receive an answer within three days of submitting a complete application. Tomorrow just click on the HQA (Home Quarantine Application) banner on our MOH website,” Khairy tweeted.
“With that, we hope that we will ease the process of people coming back to Malaysia — Malaysians and expatriates who have found it so difficult to apply for home quarantine because of the backlog. I’ve asked for the process to be simplified through one simple website,” he told reporters at KLIA.
Previously, MOH only allowed those returning from overseas travel to undergo mandatory quarantine at home, instead of at designated quarantine facilities in hotels, if they had health problems or emergencies.
Khairy said applications for home quarantine, however, surged after then-Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced on August 8 that fully vaccinated travellers returning from abroad would be allowed to self-isolate in their residence.
From tomorrow, overseas returnees can apply to undergo home quarantine at the Home Quarantine Application (HQA) portal developed by MOH’s Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre (CPRC). They do not need to email MOH.
“With the set-up of this HQA portal, applications will be managed much better. Applications must be made within seven to 10 days before arrival in Malaysia,” said Khairy in a statement.
“Therefore, travellers due to arrive in Malaysia from September 28, 2021, can apply for mandatory home quarantine through this HQA portal.”
He added that MOH had ways of monitoring compliance to home surveillance orders.
“We hope that with this, it’s another step to making it more efficient for us to reopen safely, which is part of Malaysia reopening safely.”
Among the conditions for home quarantine applications are suitability of the applicant’s residence for low risk of Covid-19 transmission. Overseas returnees applying for home quarantine must also have completed coronavirus vaccination, more than 14 days after the second dose or more than 28 days after a single-shot regimen.
