M’sia to fully reopen borders from April 1 – no quarantine for fully-vaccinated travelers

Malaysia’s Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced today (March 8) in a televised address that Malaysia will fully reopen its borders on April 1 as the country begins transitions to the Covid-19 endemic phase.

International travelers would be required to have valid travel documents to enter and exit the country, and those fully-vaccinated need not undergo any quarantine.

However, they would have to take a Covid-19 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test two days before departure, and a professional Covid-19 Antigen Rapid Test (ART) within 24 hours after arrival in Malaysia.

For those who are not fully vaccinated, or unable to receive the vaccine due to health reasons, Malaysia’s health minister will share further Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) on this tomorrow.

Additionally, travelers will no longer need to apply via MyTravelPass, but would still be required to download the MySejahtera mobile app for contact tracing purposes.

“Taking into account the Omicron variant which is still in our country and other countries, there are some mandatory steps for both Malaysians and travellers,” he said.

The minister also previously said over the weekend that the reopening of borders will allow people to meet during the Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebrations in May.

The international border reopening would include Malaysia’s land checkpoints with Singapore, and both the Johor Causeway and Second Link at Gelang Patah would be reopened simultaneously.

Malaysia currently has land and air vaccinated travel lanes (VTL) with Singapore.

Featured Image Credit: Ministry of Home Affairs Singapore