KUALA LUMPUR, June 29 — Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob today said that disabled persons, students and civil servants travelling for work purpose are exempted from paying for the compulsory Covid-19 screening tests at airports.
He said these categories of returning Malaysians will no longer need to pay for the tests, which costs from RM30 to RM150 beginning today.
“Civil servants returning from official work trips, students returning from overseas for the first time and disabled people who are registered with the Welfare Department would be eligible for the waiver,” he said during a press conference today.
Ismail said the decision was made following a special ministerial meeting this morning.
“The decision was only made in the morning, maybe some who fell under the three categories may have paid for their screening tests earlier today.
“So those who have already paid for their screening tests are allowed to claim back the fee from the Health Ministry,” he said.
Earlier today, it was announced that Malaysians returning from overseas will have to pay between RM30 to RM150 to be tested for Covid-19 upon entering the country while non-citizens will pay higher fees depending on the type of tests conducted.
The new regulations published on June 26 is known as the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (Fee for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) Detection Test) Regulations 2020.
In the regulations announced by Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba, any Malaysian or foreigner entering Malaysia will be required to pay the specified fee depending on the type of Covid-19 detection tests taken “before proceeding for immigration clearance at any point of entry”, with the type of tests used to be decided by the health director-general.
The fee for a Malaysian is RM30 for an antibody rapid test kit, RM60 for an antigen rapid test kit, RM150 for a polymerase chain reaction test kit; while for foreigners, the fees stated in the regulations are RM60 (antibody rapid test kit), RM120 (antigen rapid test kit), RM250 (polymerase chain reaction test kit).
