Individuals who travel from Singapore to Malaysia under the Periodic Commuting Arrangement (PCA) will have to be quarantined in centres designated by the Malaysian government if their destination is beyond the southern state of Johor.

This was announced by Malaysia's Health Minister Adham Baba in a statement yesterday. It came less than a week after a 35-year-old man who had travelled from Singapore tested positive for Covid-19.

Under the new directive, Singaporeans and returning Malaysians are allowed to quarantine at home or at any accommodation arranged by their employer as long as their home or place of employment is in Johor. For those whose final destination is beyond Johor, they must be quarantined at government-designated centres and this will be at the traveller's own expense, Dr Adham said.

The exemption for PCA travellers from undergoing Malaysia's mandatory 14-day quarantine for international travellers remains.

"Under this scheme (PCA), travellers are exempted from going through the mandatory 14-day quarantine at government-designated centres provided that their Covid-19 PCR test taken within 24 hours of arriving in Malaysia is negative," Dr Adham said.

Singapore citizens and permanent residents are required to be in quarantine for seven days but must register another negative result two days before the period ends.

The shorter period was negotiated by the two countries ahead of the reopening of their borders under the PCA and Reciprocal Green Lane (RGL) arrangements on Aug 17.

Malaysian citizens and permanent residents are required to be in quarantine until they obtain a negative test result upon returning home.

Under the PCA, Malaysians and Singaporeans on a long-term social visit pass are allowed to travel across the border for two weeks to a month if they have stayed in the country of their employment for the past three months.

Under the RGL scheme, those residing in Singapore are allowed to enter Malaysia for a maximum 14-day stay for official or business purposes. RGL arrivals are required to be quarantined at a declared accommodation until a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) negative test result is obtained.

Malaysia recorded 62 new Covid-19 cases yesterday, the highest number for a single day since it relaxed its movement control order in June. Most of the cases - 50 of them - were linked to a cluster that originated from a district police headquarters in Lahad Datu in Sabah, which is due to hold a state election later this month.