Photo: © Marco Bottigelli/ Getty images
By Corina Tan
Speaking at a press conference on March 8, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said that as of April 1, 2022 international borders will reopen fully as the country transitions into a Covid-19 endemic phase. With this development, Malaysians can travel freely to other countries and back while international travellers and tourists entering Malaysia will only need to have valid travel documents to enter and exit. Foreign travellers will no longer need the MyTravelPass, and will only need to download MySejahtera for contact tracing purposes.
Close-up shot of a businessman’s hand getting his boarding pass at check-in counter
He further added that “Taking into account the Omicron variant which is still in our country and other countries, there are some mandatory steps for both Malaysians and travellers.”
Fully vaccinated travellers need not undergo quarantine any longer. The only requirement is for them is to take a Covid-19 RT-PCR (Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction) test two days before departure, and a professional Covid-19 RTK-ag (Rapid Test Kit-Antigen) test within 24 hours upon arriving on Malaysian shores. Further Standard Operating Procedures will be announced by the Health Ministry concerning people with health issues that prevent them from being vaccinated.
Photo: Mongkol Chuewong/ Getty Images
The Prime Minister also announced other changes to facilitate the country’s transition to the endemic phase which includes operating hours for businesses that will be allowed to open according to their licensing permits. Religious places of worship will also be allowed to open without a limit on the number of attendees, whilst prayer and worship can be conducted according to the respective religious authorities of each state. The changes also include lifting interstate travel bans regardless of vaccination status, easing the number of people at social gatherings, and employee capacities at offices or places of work. However, he added that social distancing is still encouraged and compulsory mask wearing was still in place along with checking in using MySejahtera.
“It is important for me to note, this is the exit strategy to enable us to return to near-normal lives after nearly two years of struggling with COVID-19,” Ismail Sabri said. He added that this would be a temporary phase until further announcements are made by the World Health Organisation.
In view of this, Malaysia continues to work with Singapore to expand the land vaccinated travel lane, and is in the process of implementing the same with Brunei and Thailand as well. Malaysia’s Tourism and Culture Minister, Nancy Shukri said that the Singapore-Malaysia land route via the Johor Causeway and the Second Link at Gelang Patah will open simultaneously with the country’s international border reopening as announce by the Prime Minister.
Although daily covid cases reported have passed the 20,000 mark, the number of deaths and ICU admissions have been 80 – 90 per cent lower than the Delta peak last August. With 64 per cent of the adult population vaccinated with booster shots, the Prime Minister’s announcement hopes to boost the economy and revitalise the tourism industry.
