DG explains how French traveller was initially allowed home quarantine

A French national who arrived at the Langkawi International Airport yesterday was initially allowed to undergo his 14-day quarantine period at home based on an exemption under Malaysia My Second Home Programme (MM2H).

Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the man had arrived at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 8.25 am yesterday and was allowed to board a domestic flight to Langkawi after showing no Covid-19 symptoms and testing negative for the disease.

“He came under the MM2H programme and was initially given leeway to undergo quarantine at his residence in Langkawi based on MM2H conditions issued on June 25, 2020 […]

“However, since the government has made it mandatory for all travellers arriving in Malaysia to undergo a 14-day quarantine at quarantine stations beginning July 24, hence the MM2H condition regarding home quarantine has been nullified,” he said in a statement today.

As a result, Noor Hisham said the traveller was spotted by members of the police’s General Operations Force for wearing a pink wristband in public that indicated his status as a person under surveillance for Covid-19.

The man was admitted to a quarantine station in Langkawi at 7.30pm yesterday, he said.

For the record, the MM2H programme is a government initiative under the Tourism Ministry launched in 2002 that allows foreign nationals to migrate here upon fulfilling certain conditions.

The MM2H residency is a renewable 10-year, multiple-entry visa that provides incentives for property purchases and education among others.

Yesterday, Langkawi OCPD Mohd Iqbal Ibrahim had issued two statements regarding a man who was seen wearing a pink wristband at the airport lobby.

In the first statement, Iqbal said preliminary investigations had found that the 64-year old traveller had been instructed by Health Ministry officials at KLIA to undergo quarantine at his residence in Langkawi.

He was also required to report to the Kedah National Crisis Preparedness and Emergency Response Centre (CPRC) on Sept 1 and undergo a second Covid-19 test on Sept 2.

Iqbal also said the Langkawi police and the district health office would monitor the traveller to ensure compliance with the quarantine order.

In his second statement, however, Iqbal said the Health Ministry has instructed for the Frenchman to be taken to a quarantine facility instead and he would no longer be allowed to undergo quarantine at home. - Mkini