Malaysia to reopen borders from April 1 - PM Ismail Sabri

KUALA LUMPUR: The borders of the country will be reopened on April 1, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

He said this is in line with the plan on entering the Transition to Endemic Phase as well as announcements to revive the overall national economy especially the tourism industry which had been hit by the pandemic.

"With the reopening of the country's borders, Malaysians with valid travel documents can now leave and enter the country as usual and allowed to travel to any country which also opens its borders to foreign travellers.

"At the same time, foreign visitors with valid travel documents are also able to move in and out of the country without applying for MyTravelPass which have been repealed," he told a special media conference at Parliament Building here today.

He said members of the public only need to download and activate the MySejahtera application and complete the Pre-Departure Form via the Traveller function in the MySejahtera application.

Ismail Sabri said individuals who have been fully vaccinated, do not need to undergo quarantine and they only need to take the COVID-19 real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) detection test two days before departing and the professional RTK-Ag test within 24 hours after their arrival.

He said this is a compulsory procedure for all Malaysian and foreign travellers who wish to enter Malaysia, as the spread of COVID-19 especially the Omicron wave is still in Malaysia and many countries in the world.

According to him, the status of other vaccination such as not receiving vaccine due to medical reasons and not receiving any vaccinations, details on the procedure would be announced by Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin tomorrow.

Ismail Sabri said the list of detailed standard operating procedures (SOP) at international checkpoints on land and seas would also be issued by the relevant ministries soon.

On the decision to reopen the borders, he said it was based on three basic matters guided by science and the latest facts on COVID-19 compared to the need to open the country's border as well as giving comfort to travellers and not to make their journey difficult.

For countries that still have their borders closed, Ismail Sabri said Malaysians can benefit via the Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) as agreed by the Government of Malaysia with the countries involved.

"For the time being, VTL has been implemented with Singapore since last year. As I have announced earlier, VTL would be implemented soon between Malaysia-Thailand, Malaysia-Brunei and Malaysia-Indonesia.

"It is hoped the people would soon benefit from the opening of the country's borders which be carried out according to the stipulated guidelines for self-safety, the surrounding people and the country as a whole," he said.

On March 18, 2020, Malaysia enforced restrictions on all traveling abroad by the people and the entry of tourists into the country to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

On Oct 7, 2020, the government introduced the MyTravelPass of the Immigration Department which is the application to allow movements in and out of the country by Malaysians and foreigners.

On Oct 11, 2021, the government allowed inter-state travel and traveling abroad without the need of the application.

-- BERNAMA