Khairy: Get Yourself Tested For Covid-19 Before You “Balik Kampung”

The Health Minister, Khairy Jamaluddin has call on those who wanted to “balik kampung” to do a Covid-19 self-test before travelling interstate to their home town.

He also stressed the importance of getting tested frequently, especially for those in an environment of high contact and mobility.

He added that this should be done to protect the elderly family members when these individuals return to their home towns.

1.6% before interstate borders open. While ⁦@KKMPutrajaya⁩ has transitioned to symptomatic testing, we encourage people who are in high contact & mobility settings to test regularly. If you want to balik kampung to see elderly parents, do a RTK saliva test. Keep them safe. pic.twitter.com/uFXVgJ8nLm

— Khairy Jamaluddin 🇲🇾🌺 (@Khairykj) October 6, 2021

In his tweet, he also mention that there is only 1.6% left before Malaysia’s adult population vaccination rate reaches the 90% threshold for the government to reopen interstate borders.

Khairy also said the authorities cannot ‘police things anymore’ and the public needs to be responsible of themselves to ensure that the nation can transition into the endemic phase safely.

As we transition towards endemicity, we cannot police things anymore i.e. set up roadblocks to see if you have been fully vaccinated or tested. Much will now depend on personal responsibility and behaviour. I believe we can rise to the challenge in #ReopeningSafely.

— Khairy Jamaluddin 🇲🇾🌺 (@Khairykj) October 6, 2021

“As we transition towards endemicity, we cannot police things anymore i.e. set up roadblocks to see if you have been fully vaccinated or tested.” he said in another tweet.

“Much will now depend on personal responsibility and behaviour. I believe we can rise to the challenge in #ReopeningSafely.” he added.

Based on the COVIDNOW portal, a total of 20 of 20,698,852 or 88.4% of the adult population in the country have completed their Covid-19 vaccination as of 6 October, while 94.5% have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

Additionally, 3.8% of adolescents have been fully vaccinated while 62.5% have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

On 22 September, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said that interstate travel will be allowed when 90% of adults in Malaysia are vaccinated against Covid-19.