KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 19 ― The Health Ministry is scrutinising allegations that Industry, Plantation and Commodities Minister Datuk Mohd Khairuddin Aman Razali did not comply with the government’s mandatory 14-day isolation order upon returning from Turkey.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the minister returned when home quarantine was allowed, before the government imposed the mandatory isolation in designated centres after several returnees were found to have ventured out in public when they were supposed to be house-bound.

"We are investigating. It was the period of home quarantine then,” he told news portal Malaysiakini.

Dr Noor Hisham noted that Khairuddin underwent screening for Covid-19 at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport upon arrival last month.

"If [he] tested positive, [he] will be admitted to hospital and if [he] tested negative, [he needs to undergo] mandatory home quarantine for 14 days,” he was quoted saying further.

Seputeh MP Teresa Kok had raised the issue in Parliament yesterday when she questioned how Khairuddin, who went to Turkey on an unofficial four-day visit, returned on July 7 and was able to attend the Dewan Rakyat sitting on July 13, just six day later and before the mandatory 14-day quarantine period ended.

Khairuddin, who is Kuala Nerus MP, has yet to respond to requests for comment.

Sinar Harian reported an anonymous source close to the minister claiming Khairuddin underwent a "special Covid-19 test” upon his return and was found negative for the virus.

The source also claimed Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had approved the Turkey trip as the country was a Covid-19 "green zone” at that time.

However, at the start of Khairuddin’s visit on July 3, Turkey already had over 203,000 cases, which rose to nearly 208,000 on July 7 when he flew back home.

Under the National Security Council’s SOP, all Malaysian returnees are tested on arrival and those with negative results must serve a 14-day quarantine; those found positive are sent to a hospital for treatment and tested again on the 13th day of their quarantine. They are only released if the second test shows negative.

A breach of this order is punishable under the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 by up to two years’ imprisonment, a fine, or both upon conviction.

Malaysians took to social media questioning if double standards were being applied in the case of the minister.