THE Health Ministry will consider shortening the quarantine period to 10 days for those already under 14-day surveillance for Covid-19, said director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

“We will consider reducing the quarantine period of those currently in isolation to 10 days.

“But we will run a test either on the eight or ninth day and if the result returns negative, then we will release them on the 10th day,” Noor Hisham said in a virtual Covid-19 briefing at Putrajaya. 

He said this when asked if the new 10-day quarantine duration is applicable for persons already under surveillance.

Yesterday, the Health Ministry said the mandatory quarantine period for travellers returning to Malaysia from abroad and for those who have had close contact with Covid-19 patients will be reduced from 14 to 10 days.

Noor Hisham said several countries have reviewed the quarantine period and decided to reduce the number of days. 

Countries like the United Kingdom, Germany and Belgium have shortened their quarantine period to 10 days instead of 14 days, while the quarantine period in France is only seven days, he said. 

Considering that, Noor Hisham said the changes in the quarantine period are not much and that the risk factor is still within acceptable levels. 

“The change (in quarantine duration) is not much and we can still accept the risk, which is less compared to the seven-day quarantine.

“So, the ministry has already discussed and we also use scientific data to support quarantine for 10 days,” he said today. 

The new changes on the quarantine duration started today.

The initial 14-day quarantine period was recommended after the World Health Organisation and other experts estimated that the incubation period for Covid-19 was between two and 14 days. – December 14, 2020.