Council recommends March 1 for quarantine-free international travel

The National Recovery Council (MPN) today said it recommends that the country’s borders be reopened as soon as possible to facilitate further recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

MPN chairman Muhyiddin Yassin said the council had agreed for the borders to be fully reopened without mandatory quarantine as early as March 1.

Speaking at a press conference, however, he said Covid-19 tests must still be conducted before departure and upon arrival, in line with the health ministry’s recommendations.

“The reopening of the country’s borders must be done in a planned manner and according to current risk assessments,” he said, adding that detailed information about SOPs would be announced by the health ministry.

Malaysia’s borders have been largely closed to international travellers since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020.

A Vaccinated Travel Lane was recently opened with Singapore, allowing a fixed number of land and air travellers to move between Malaysia and the city-state.

Responding to questions today, Muhyiddin said Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin had said that even if Malaysia wished to reopen its borders on a targeted basis, the ultra contagious Omicron variant had already spread throughout the world.

“So we cannot choose,” he added. “But an announcement will be made about the rules to be set down.”