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Monday, 17 August 2020

Penang says no decision yet on cancelling medical flight services

A traveller seen at the Penang International Airport earlier this year. Penang says medical charter flight services with Indonesia are still allowed for now. (Bernama pic)

GEORGE TOWN: The state government says no decision has been made so far on the cancellation of medical charter flight services between Penang and Indonesia.

Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said the flights are still being allowed as long as they have the proper clearance and are subjected to the SOPs.

“But all of this will be reviewed from time to time,” he added when asked if it was the right time to continue allowing inbound flights given the increase of Covid-19 cases in Penang.

He also said he had no information on the number of patients and medical tourists from Indonesia arriving in Penang recently for medical tourism.

Chow Kon Yeow

On Aug 14, AirAsia welcomed its first international medical charter flight from Medan to Penang International Airport.

AirAsia.com CEO Karen Chan said in a statement that the airline company was working closely with medical institutions and government authorities to ensure that patients and medical tourists from Indonesia have greater access to treatment and health services in Malaysia by providing medical charter flight services.

The announcement sparked debate on social media with some expressing concern over the high number of Covid-19 cases in Indonesia and the risk of virus transmissions in Penang.

As of Aug 16, Indonesia’s health ministry had announced 2,081 new confirmed Covid-19 cases, bringing the total number of infections nationwide to 139,549.

CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST DATA ON THE COVID-19 SITUATION IN MALAYSIA



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