SIXTY-TWO tabligh followers were among 96 Malaysians who arrived at Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 6.31am today after being locked down in India because of Covid-19.

They left the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi yesterday on a Malindo Air flight.

A total of 107 passengers landed this morning, consisting of the 62 tabligh followers, 34 staff members from the Malaysian high commission and other stranded Malaysians.

“The other 11 were Malindo Air crew,” said the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) in a statement today.

All the passengers were screened by the Indian government before boarding the flight.

“They were also tested for Covid-19 upon arrival at KLIA,” said Nadma.

The returnees will still be quarantined for another 14 days at the surveillance centre at Akedemi Kepimpinan Pendidikan Tinggi in Bandar Enstek, Nilai, it said.

Nadma said the 107 will undergo testing twice a day to ensure they are not infected by Covid-19.

“This is the fifth mission to repatriate Malaysians since other missions in Wuhan, China, Italy and Iran.”

Former prime minister Najib Razak yesterday urged the government to tighten quarantine rules following reports of new Covid-19 clusters involving imported cases.

Those who breached quarantine should be jailed instead of paying a RM1,000 fine, Najib said. 

“If cost is a factor for allowing quarantine at home, I believe those arriving or returning from overseas can bear the cost of a 14-day quarantine at a government quarantine centre or government-approved hotel.

“Tell them to pay for it themselves. Those arriving from overseas should be considered as suspected cases and handled accordingly until they reach a quarantine centre or hotel,” he said in a Facebook post yesterday. – July 18, 2020.