‘Scrape quarantine if borders open’

KUCHING: Imposing mandatory quarantine when the country’s borders reopen would merely hinder the tourism industry’s recovery process, opined Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.

The Minister for Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts said he fully backed the National Recovery Council’s (NRC) proposal to scrap mandatory quarantine when the country’s borders finally reopen.

According to Abdul Karim, being fully vaccinated should suffice for travellers to earn entry into Malaysia.

“I welcome (the proposal by NRC) because I have always wanted all this quarantine to be put aside as long as they (travellers) are fully vaccinated (against Covid-19).

“What matters more now is that tourists and travellers must be fully vaccinated. That is good enough already. If you impose quarantine again, who else wants to travel?” he told reporters after an event here yesterday.

On Feb 8, NRC chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the council proposed Malaysia reopen its borders by March 1 and there should be no mandatory quarantine imposed.

However, to date the federal government has yet to announce when Malaysia would reopen its borders or the terms for travellers when this happens.