'International direct flights into Sabah after CMCO being considered'
Published on: Wednesday, June 03, 2020
Kota Kinabalu: The State Government has decided to allow all travel into Sabah, be it via air, land or sea, by government servants, private sector workers and Malaysian citizens, including Sabahans from the peninsula, Sarawak and Labuan.Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal (pic) said the State Government has also agreed to exempt them from quarantine on condition they had already done the Covid-19 test at the place/state they are coming from three days before they enter Sabah and that they had been confirmed as negative.
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He said the confirmation letter from the Health Ministry (of their status) must be produced on arrival in Sabah.
The State Government welcomed all Malaysian citizens from the peninsula, Sarawak and Labuan coming to Sabah and stay at the hotels which had been allowed to resume operations since May 10, he said.
He said it is compulsory for non-Sabahan Malaysian citizens and non-Malaysians to produce work pass and other passes which are still valid when arriving in Sabah.
Meanwhile, Sabah Health and Wellbeing Minister Frankie Poon said he was looking at the possibility of allowing a few international direct flights after the CMCO expired on June 9 in a bid to revive the economy.
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He said the use of rapid test kits in the battle against Covid-19 would make it possible to woo foreign travellers again.
“The rapid test kit is a very fast way of finding out whether a person has or does not have the Covid-19 virus, “ he said.
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Tourism is one of Sabah’s most profitable sectors with some 4.19 million travellers visiting the state in 2019.
Poon said many eateries and shops still remained closed in Sabah due to the Covid-19 crisis and attributed this to “overly cautious” business owners.
He urged them to open their shops and to adopt all guidelines of the health authorities, saying if they followed the standard operating procedure, the chances of infection would be minimal.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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