Shorter quarantine for international travellers under study

 

At present, people entering the country from abroad are still required to be tested upon arrival and quarantined for 14 days.

PUTRAJAYA: Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah says the health ministry is in the midst of reviewing data to possibly shorten the quarantine period for international travellers entering Malaysia.

Noor Hisham said there is no change in policy yet as people entering the country from abroad are still required to be tested upon arrival and quarantined for 14 days.

“However, we’re in the process of reviewing more data to find out whether we can actually shorten this quarantine period. As you are aware, some countries only quarantine for seven to 10 days.

“But we need to substantiate this with data. If we shorten the quarantine period, the risk is probably around 5%, so we need to be able to manage that risk. But we need to review the data before we can change our present policy.”

Noor Hisham also said the health ministry will be embarking on a phase-three clinical trial for a vaccine developed by the Institute of Medical Biology at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences in Beijing.

He said the first and second phases of the clinical trial had shown good results with the vaccine able to elicit adequate antibody responses from subjects.

“We have a diverse population here, so we want to see the effect of the vaccine on our population. The study aims to investigate the vaccine’s safety and efficacy.

“On Dec 10, the medical research and ethics committee will look into the law and research ethics. If approved, we can start the study at the end of the month or next year,” he said.

An estimated 3,000 people from eight health ministry hospitals will participate in the trial, he said.

The hospitals involved are Hospital Ampang, Sarawak General Hospital, Hospital Sungai Buloh, Penang Hospital, Hospital Seberang Jaya, Hospital Taiping, Hospital Sultanah Bahiyah and Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun. - FMT