Malaysia’s coronavirus recovery council said on Tuesday it has recommended a full reopening of borders as early as March 1 without mandatory quarantine for travellers, as part of plans to accelerate economic recovery.
Malaysia’s borders have been closed since March 2020 and the entry of foreign workers was frozen to try to contain novel coronavirus outbreaks.
The recovery council’s recommendation comes as neighbouring countries waive quarantine requirements to attract vaccinated tourists, including Thailand, the Philippines and Singapore.
Thailand on Monday said it was also eyeing travel bubbles with Malaysia and China.
Muhyiddin Yassin, a former premier and chairperson of Malaysia’s National Recovery Council (NRC), a government advisory body, said travellers would have to undergo COVID-19 screening before departure and on arrival.
“This means tourists can visit, investors can enter… It means AirAsia can fly again, as an example,” he told a news conference, referring to the Malaysia-based budget carrier.
At present, Malaysia allows quarantine-free entry to people from Singapore as part of a bilateral arrangement.
Back in November, there was talk of the country reopening on 1 January, but this was pushed back due to daily coronavirus infections surging in recent weeks to their highest in four months, driven by the Omicron variant.
At the time, Former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who chairs a council tasked with spearheading Malaysia’s economic recovery program, told reporters the tourism industry was recovering too slowly without foreigners and noted that operators needed time to resume businesses.
It reported 13,944 new infections on Tuesday, adding to more than 2.9 million cases recorded overall, with over 32,000 deaths, among the highest fatality and infection rates in Asia per capita.
The majority of the cases were asymptomatic or mild due to Malaysia’s high vaccination rate, the health ministry said on Monday.
About 98% of Malaysia’s adult population has received two doses of the vaccine and more than half a booster shot.
About 89% of 12-17-year-olds have been vaccinated and inoculations for children age 5-11.
Source: AAP