NRC proposes reopening of Malaysia's borders as early as March without compulsory quarantine

NRC proposes reopening of Malaysia's borders as early as March without compulsory quarantine

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 8): The National Recovery Council (NRC) has agreed for Malaysia’s international borders to be fully reopened from as early as March 1, 2022 without compulsory Covid-19 quarantine, said its chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

However, Covid-19 screening tests would have to be conducted in accordance with Ministry of Health requirements for both departure and arrivals, Muhyiddin said in a statement on Tuesday (Feb 8).

“The reopening of national borders must be implemented strategically and based on concurrent assessment of risks,” he added.

The NRC’s decision followed a meeting on Tuesday, which saw the council reviewing the proposal for national border reopening by Immigration Department director-general Datuk Seri Khairul Dzaimee Daud.

“Malaysia is among the countries with the highest percentage of completed vaccination [against Covid-19] in the world, with 98% [of its] adult population and over 78% [of its] national population having received complete doses.

“More than 50% of the adult population have also received their booster shot. This helped reduce the burden on the national healthcare system. The administration of booster shots and vaccines for adolescents and children will be increased after taking into account the emergence of the Omicron variant,” the statement read.

Meanwhile, the NRC also proposed to streamline all financial assistance for micro, small and medium enterprises by different government funding agencies, so that the effort can be implemented systematically to optimise utilisation of resources, to reduce overlap and to ensure more affected parties can receive the necessary aid.

Additionally, the NRC also supports propositions by the Construction Industry Development Board to immediately address issues of rising construction material costs, undersupply of labour and the impact of the movement control order, while also coming up with long-term solutions to related structural issues, it said.

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