Malaysia is Safe to Travel to

Hi y'all. Good morning.. Missed me? Kidding. Suffice to say that I had to attend to something personal.

So, what have I missed at the local front that I'm catching up on?

Let's see..

After Thailand reporting its first case of the A(H1Ni) case, Malaysia had its first case reported on Sat, May 16.

A 21-year-old student returning from New York was infected and quarantined and subsequently another student travelling on the same flight on MH091. The male student is quarantined at the Sungai Buloh Hospital in Kuala Lumpur while the lady student is in a Penang hospital. Both are recovering.

Lots of others who have either been on the same planes (MH091 - from Newark to KL - and AK5358 - from LCCT in Sepang to Penang) and those in contact with the two infected students are on home-quarantine for seven days. This is the time required for symptoms to surface should one be infected with the A(H1N1) virus. An entire AirAsia crew of 15 on Flight AK5358 is also grounded and quarantined. This is the crew that flew from the LCCT in Sepang (KL) to Penang. There is no mention of the plane though. It goes without saying that it has to be adequately disinfected before it is allowed in the air again.

Yesterday, my blog stats showed a hit from this query on Google: Is it safe to travel to KL in view of the swine flu outbreak? It is only natural for people to wonder if KL is still safe as a travel destination or even as a transit point considering that AirAsia now flies to Stansted, London. This could be the most direct flight for anyone from the Southern Hemisphere flying to London.

For those of you who are wondering, have no fear. The two students infected are the only two confirmed cases and they are recovering well. There is no other case and so far all tests on those quarantined showed negative results. People here on the street are not wearing masks. According to our Health Ministry, there is no need to don face-mask.

Malaysia is on high alert and has stepped up efforts to control the spread of the Influenza A (H1N1). Security is tighter at entry points into the country.

Rest-assured that Malaysia is still safe to travel to. Welcome to Malaysia!