Reopening Safely remains as government's guiding principle - Hishammuddin

KUALA LUMPUR: The Reopening Safely effort remains as the government's guiding principle to ensure Malaysia's healthcare capacity remains manageable even as the country's vaccination numbers are high.

Senior Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein in his official Twitter account said the COVID-19 Ministerial Quartet understood that many countries have begun removing restrictions on a larger scale, but the government must be cautious.

"In formulating our exit strategy from #COVID19 and in line with #ReopeningSafely, Malaysia will enter a 'Transition to Endemic' phase soon. More sectors will be opened, border controls relaxed; but safety precautions such as face masks and personal hygiene must be maintained," he tweeted.

Hishammuddin said although the COVID-19 positive cases in Malaysia are now higher than during the Delta wave in August last year, the number of intensive care unit (ICU) admissions and deaths is 80 per cent to 90 per cent lower.

"We want this #decoupling trend to remain and @KKMPutrajaya (Health Ministry) will continue to monitor before deciding on any further relaxations," he said.

Yesterday, Hishammuddin in an online press conference after chairing the COVID-19 Ministerial Quartet Meeting said the Omicron wave would not cause the government to re-implement the movement restriction on a large scale as many Malaysians had completed the COVID-19 vaccination.

He also said the Foreign Ministry and the Transport Ministry are looking at potential foreign countries to be included in the list of Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) from time to time.

-- BERNAMA