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Travellers entering Malaysia from Singapore via the land-based Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) from Dec. 3 to Dec. 5 have hit the daily limit of 1,440 travellers, The Star reported.

Travellers entering Malaysia through the Causeway also outnumbered those who are travelling to Singapore, according to Mohd Solihan Badri, the chairman of Johor's public works, transportation and infrastructure committee.

Within the first seven days of launching the VTL, 11,963 travellers have utilised the VTL to cross the border between Singapore and Malaysia.

Out of those, 3,108 travellers entered Singapore from Malaysia, while 8,855 travellers from Singapore arrived in Malaysia.

The daily quota of travellers will reportedly be increased weekly, and other modes of land transportation may also be included subsequently.

Land VTL

Up to 1,440 Singapore citizens, permanent residents and Singapore long-term pass holders can cross the Causeway into Singapore each day via the VTL, which was launched on Nov. 29.

The land VTL currently prioritises citizens, permanent residents (PR) and long-term pass holders of the country that they are entering.

Fully-vaccinated travellers will not be required to serve quarantine as long as they test negative to Covid-19 upon their arrival.

Updated measures in Malaysia

In light of the recent Omicron Covid-19 variant, Malaysian Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said on Dec. 8 that travellers arriving via the land VTL will be required to take Covid-19 tests every day for six days after their arrival, Free Malaysia Today reported.

The new measures will reportedly come into effect on Dec. 9, The Star reported.

On top of the pre-departure and on-arrival tests, travellers will have to do self-testing with Antigen Rapid Test (ART) kits on the second, fourth, and sixth days of their arrival.

Travellers will also be required to undergo a professionally administered ART test on the third and fifth days after arriving in Malaysia.

Khairy added that all test results must be uploaded to the Malaysian contact tracing app "MySejahtera".

Updated measures in Singapore

Singapore has also recently updated the testing requirements for travellers arriving from Malaysia via the land VTL.

Travellers will have to do self-administered ARTs on the second, fourth, fifth, and sixth days after arriving in Singapore.

Additionally, they will be required to undergo supervised ARTs on the third and seventh days after their arrival.

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