THE Ministry of Health will discuss with airlines methods of screening transiting passengers for Covid-19, director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said today.

“We will discuss with airlines for the implementation (of this), but passengers will have to pay for it and not the Malaysian government,” he added.

This comes in the heels of a temporary ban imposed by the Cambodian government on flights from Malaysia and Indonesia, which will come into effect on August 1.

According to the Khmer Times, the decision to impose the ban was made after more than 100 cases were detected among passengers from the two countries.

Noor Hisham revealed that the 55 Covid-19 cases in Cambodia said to have originated from Malaysia actually came from passengers transiting in Malaysian airports.

“We have to look into conducting tests for those who transit (in Malaysia),” he said while citing the PUI Melbourne cluster and case No 22 linked to the Westerdam cruise ship as examples.

Adding that this was a matter of concern, Noor Hisham said it was also up to airlines to impose conditions that passengers can board flights only after they are tested negative for Covid-19. – July 27, 2020.