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Testing Chinese poop not people: Malaysia spurns Covid plans of Japan, India for China’s reopening, vows to screen waste water on inbound flights
- Travellers from China will only be screened for fever, Malaysia’s health minister said, but waste water from their inbound flights will be tested
- Earlier, her predecessor had called for pre-departure Covid tests to be required like in the US, India and Japan, asking: ’Is Malaysia ready?’
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Hadi Azmiin Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia says it will start screening the waste water of flights from China for Covid-19 – but not test travellers – as the Southeast Asian nation prepares for the world’s most populous country to reopen its borders.
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Anxiety is rippling out across Asia over the possibility of new Covid variants and outbreaks driven by the return of China’s 1.4 billion people to the prospect of international travel, after a three-year hiatus enforced by pandemic controls.
Malaysia, which opened its own borders in April, is not imposing any additional restrictions towards Chinese visitors such as pre-departure Covid tests.
But health authorities will conduct fever screening upon arrival for all visitors at the country’s international ports of entry.
“Those detected with fever or symptoms or self-declaration will be referred to the quarantine centre or the health department for re-examination,” said Health Minister Zaliha Mustafa in a statement on Friday. “If Covid-19 is suspected, a Covid-19 test will be conducted.”
The minister’s comments came in response to a warning issued by her predecessor, Dzulkefly Ahmad – who led Malaysia’s health ministry in the early days of the pandemic – flagging reports that more than half of all Chinese travellers landing in Milan, Italy, had tested positive for Covid.
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“India, Japan and the US are requiring a negative Covid test from China. Is Malaysia ready?” Dzulkefly, a toxicologist, asked on Twitter.
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