Malaysia will pause umrah travels for pilgrims from January 8, 2022 as the number of COVID cases, especially from the Omicron variant, originating from returning pilgrims is growing. The move is expected to help reduce the risk of Omicron transmission in the country, slow the rise of COVID-19 cases, and provide time for the government to plan for the next phase of umrah activities.
According to the Ministry of Health Malaysia (MOH), the last two weeks of 2021 saw the highest number of COVID-positive cases from travellers arriving from KSA - 1,161 cases compared to Singapore (13 cases), Indonesia (8 cases) and the UK (49 cases).
Umrah travels began in Malaysia on October 13, 2021. As of 30 December 2021, 11,108 umrah pilgrims have returned to Malaysia, with 1,306 (11.76%) testing positive for COVID-19. Of these, 592 tested positive on the day of arrival while a further 714 tested positive on a second test conducted on the 5th day of quarantine.
In cases where umrah pilgrims have applied to undergo quarantine at home on their return, MOH noted that some non-compliance of standard operating procedures (SOPs) has occurred. This has exposed family members of the same household as well as visitors to COVID-19.
In conjunction with the pause on umrah, booking new umrah flight tickets have been suspended, and quarantine for returning umrah pilgrims will now occur at quarantine stations approved by the National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA) from 3 January 2022.
Pilgrims planning to travel to KSA from 1 to January 7, 2022, will be allowed to depart, but have to undergo quarantine at NADMA-approved quarantine stations when they return. Umrah pilgrims returning to Malaysia must:
i) Perform a COVID-19 RT-PCR detection test for two days before their departure date.
ii) Perform a RT-PCR test on the day of arrival;
iii) Undergo surveillance and observation orders for seven days at a quarantine station;
iv) If symptomatic, they must perform a COVID-19 detection test using a RTK Ag self -test;
v) Perform a RT-PCR test on the 5th day.
Umrah pilgrims will be released from the quarantine order on the 8th day, if the RT-PCR test results on the 5th day is negative for COVID-19 and no other reasons arise for extending the quarantine.