The health ministry has launched a website for travellers coming into Malaysia to apply for home quarantine. The Home Quarantine Application (HQA) portal allows both Malaysian residents and foreigners with homes in the country to be placed under quarantine in their own quarters for 14 days instead of having to book a hotel.
HQA, which launched today, replaces what Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin calls a “jurassic process“, which previously required applicants to send email applications – causing a backlog of 6,000 inquiries. The new website allows travellers to submit their application seven to ten days before travel, and Khairy says that these requests will be answered within three days.
For starters, do note that each application only allows up to ten travellers so if you are planning to apply for more than that, you will need to fill up another request. Aside from home quarantine, travellers can also utilise the site to apply for hospital-based quarantine or an early release from quarantine which involves submitting a Day 5 PCR test result.
The biggest criteria for home quarantine application eligibility is being considered fully vaccinated. Individuals will only be classified as such only more than 14 days after the second dose of vaccination, or more than 28 days after a single-dose vaccine.
When submitting their details, travellers are also required to provide vaccination documents and declare which COVID-19 vaccine they received – such as Sinovac, Pfizer, and other approved vaccines. Additionally, personal identification documents – such as MyKad or a passport – are required, and non-citizens will also need to submit proof-of-entry approval documents.
Home quarantine approval is not guaranteed as the ministry will do a risk assessment based on the makeup of your household. Travellers will need to specify the exact number of people in the household, excluding themselves, and how many in it are classified in a high-risk group. As for the house itself, the ministry needs to know how many rooms and bathrooms there are in order to assess whether it is enough to quarantine the travellers.
Applicants can check the status of their applications on the website at any time by using the provided passcode and reference number. As usual, travellers will need to show a negative PCR test result taken three days prior to travel, as well as undergo another PCR test upon arriving in the country.
Those who have been approved will be labeled as a Person Under Surveillance in MySejahtera, and will be issued a wristband or digital tracker to be worn throughout the quarantine period. As for outbound travellers who need to apply for MyTravelPass, the government is in the process of expanding the list of those exempted from the application with less outbound travel restrictions.
(Source: HQA/MOH)
