COVID: Malaysia cautious about declaring possible move to endemic phase - Khairy

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is taking prudent steps before it decides to declare the country's transition from the COVID-19 pandemic to the endemic phase, said Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

He said this careful approach included ensuring that COVID-19 cases in Malaysia especially those involving hospital admissions did not continue to surge.

"We are monitoring other countries like Sweden and Denmark. In my opinion, they might have declared an end to the COVID-19 pandemic too early. For example, in Denmark they declared that COVID-19 was not a threat to public health but hospitalisation cases increased rapidly.

"That's why for the Health director-general (Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah) and I, we prefer to be cautious. Some say our approach is conservative and others say too conservative, but for us it is better to be safe than sorry," he told a press conference after launching the Mass Urology Surgery Initiative at Hospital Selayang today.

If in the next two to three weeks the Omicron wave had little effect on hospital admission rates with most cases showing mild symptoms, the government might be more confident to move to the endemic phase, he added.