Coronavirus: No quarantine for Malaysians going home for family funerals

PETALING JAYA • Malaysians in Singapore will be permitted to return home to attend the funerals of immediate family members without the need to undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine, as the situation is considered an emergency, Senior Minister for Security and Minister of Defence Ismail Sabri Yaakob said yesterday.

However, those who return are allowed to be at the burial ceremony for a maximum of three hours and have to be clad in full personal protective equipment (PPE), Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri said.

"They will be escorted by frontliners (coronavirus personnel) to their family members at the burial site for a maximum of three hours," he said during a daily briefing on the country's conditional movement control order. "After that, they will be sent back to Singapore."

Mr Ismail Sabri said this was in line with standard operating procedures and that such cases have occurred before.

But whether or not Malaysians who come back would be subject to quarantine upon their return to Singapore is the prerogative of the Singapore authorities, he added.

"It's up to Singapore itself when they return," he said.

Previously, the Malaysian High Commission in Singapore was reported as saying that it was ready to assist a Malaysian woman bus captain who had pleaded to be allowed to return home for her husband's funeral in a viral clip.

In the video clip, the woman, who was behind the wheel of a bus, became distraught upon hearing news of her husband's demise and could not continue driving.

She stopped her bus at a bus stop and was crying inconsolably before she was assisted by bystanders.

The Singapore bus operator, Tower Transit, has since told Bernama in an e-mail reply that it is giving the bus captain support during this period.

THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on May 27, 2020, with the headline Coronavirus: No quarantine for Malaysians going home for family funerals. Subscribe