18 classified as high-risk countries
Published on: Thursday, December 30, 2021
By: Bernama
PUTRAJAYA: Eighteen countries have now been classified as high-risk countries following the spread of the Omicron variant, said Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin (pic).He said this came after the Malaysian Government lifted temporary travel restrictions against eight countries, namely South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Malawi.
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“All eight countries are now included in the list of high-risk countries, bringing the total number to 18,” he said at a press conference.
Khairy said the Ministry of Health (MOH) advised Malaysians to postpone their travel to these high-risk countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Norway, France, Denmark, India, Canada and Nigeria.
Meanwhile, Khairy said the Institute for Medical Research (IMR) had conducted a PCR Genotyping Assay test on 366 samples of Covid-19 positive cases among travellers from Dec 21 to 25.
“Of that number, a total of 306 samples indicates possible (presumptive) Omicron variant and are currently awaiting whole-genome sequencing results,” he said.
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Meanwhile, the MOH is encouraging the use of the MySJ Trace feature of the MySejahtera application in public places, public transport, eateries and shopping malls.
Khairy said MySJ Trace is using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology to detect individuals who are close contacts of Covid-19 cases.
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He said if the individuals who tested positive for the virus agreed to share information with MOH, a notification would be sent to inform others that they have become a casual contact.
“The information is only contained in your phone. Only if you want to share to give that permission. We don’t keep the information. Otherwise, Apple and Google will not approve this upgrade because they are very particular about personal data,” he said.
Khairy said, for now, the ministry would only encourage the public to use the feature, but did not rule out the possibility of making it mandatory for entry to premises if the take-up rate is low.
He explained that the feature would help the ministry to carry out contact tracing and ensure the community could co-exist with Covid-19 safely and responsibly so that the Government would not have to implement drastic measures such as restrictions to control the spread of Covid-19.
MySJ Trace is a mobile contact tracing function using a community-driven approach where mobile phone users can exchange information within a certain distance that allows identification of a MySJ Trace user who has been in close contact with another user who is positive for Covid-19.
In addition, Khairy said a virtual meeting held with several associations such as the Malaysian Retail Chain Association, Business Events Council Malaysia, Malaysian Association of Convention and Exhibition Organisers and Suppliers, Malaysia Shopping Malls Association, Prasarana Bhd and Malaysian Indian Muslim Restaurant Owners Association had agreed to encourage the use of MySJ Trace at their premises.
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