PremiumMalaysia will allow quarantine-free entry for fully vaccinated travelers from April 1, ending almost two years of stringent border controls introduced to contain the Covid-19 outbreak.
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Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said on Tuesday that the Southeast Asian country is ending the stringent border control measures introduced almost two years back to contain the pandemic and will allow quarantine-free entry for fully vaccinated travelers from April 1.
“Citizens with valid travel documents can enter and leave the country as they did before the pandemic, and foreigners can also move in and out of Malaysia without the need to apply for MyTravelPass, which will be abolished," the Malaysian prime minister said.
Urging the travelers to take Covid tests before departure and upon arrival in Malaysia, Ismail Sabri said “This announcement will revitalize the economy, particularly tourism, which was severely affected."
The Malaysian prime minister further said in the endemic phase, operational hours for businesses will no longer be limited, but face masks will remain mandatory.
The Southeast Asian country recently allowed fully inoculated travelers from Thailand and Cambodia to skip quarantine from March 15. This will add to the existing vaccinated travel lane arrangement with Singapore. A similar one with Indonesia is still under planning.
Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand are among SE Asian countries that have waived quarantine, while Indonesia is bringing forward plans to allow quarantine-free entry for foreigners traveling to Bali, as cases in the country decline.
The Malaysian health ministry said daily Covid cases hit records for two straight days last week, ending a slide that had set in after infections previously peaked on Feb. 24. The number of deaths and ICU admissions is between 80% to 90% lower than during the peak of the Delta variant in August
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