21-day hotel quarantine for passengers to Malaysia, says Air IndiaExpress

Budget Indian carrier Air India Express on Monday issued guidelines for passengers traveling to Malaysia.

The norms, issued by authorities in Malaysia, include the following:

> Passengers should bear the cost of Covid-19 screening test (swab test) and 21-day mandatory hotel quarantine on arrival at Kuala Lumpur.

> The cost of the swab test is MYR150 (Dh134), and that of hotel accommodation is also MYR150 per day.

> Passengers should submit a written confirmation at the airport of origin, stating that they accept the above charges.

> All passengers are required to submit an RT-PCR negative certificate on arrival. The test must be taken within 72 hours of their departure.

> Any passengers who had Covid-19 within the past 21 days of travel and who have any symptoms of Covid-19 will not be accepted for travel.

Many Indian states eased coronavirus restrictions on Monday including the capital New Delhi, where authorities allowed all shops and malls to open, as the number of new infections dropped to the lowest in more than two months.

Experts have cautioned against a full re-opening as India has vaccinated only about 5 per cent of its estimated 950 million adults with the necessary two doses, leaving millions vulnerable.

Infections peaked in India in May with about 400,000 new cases a day but that dropped to 70,421 new infections reported on Monday, the lowest daily increase since March 31, health ministry data showed.

The number of deaths went up by 3,921, the data showed.

Last week, Malaysia extended a national lockdown imposed to curb a surge in coronavirus infections for two more weeks, with the latest restrictions to end on June 28, security minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said.

The lockdown, originally set to end on June 14, was announced as the Southeast Asian nation began reporting record levels of Covid-19 infections and deaths last month.

With inputs from Reuters