The government is maintaining the current SOPs for Covid-19, says health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.
According to Bernama, Noor Hisham said the health ministry will examine seven key indicators before it moves to tighten the SOPs.
They include the increase in the number of Covid-19 cases in China and the bordering countries, the capacity of Malaysia’s public healthcare system, and the detection of new variants around the world.
“We will also be on the lookout for new variants from sewage samples on all flights coming from China, or those who exhibit influenza-like illnesses (ILI) or severe acute respiratory infection (SARI),” he said.
Noor Hisham said the ministry was not expecting any spike in Covid-19 cases following the upcoming Chinese New Year festivities, adding that no new variants of the virus have been detected in Malaysia.
There have been fears that the number of Covid-19 cases in Malaysia could spike again with the reopening of China’s borders and the anticipated influx of tourists from the country.
Covid-19 infections soared in China in November and have continued to increase after Beijing dismantled its zero-Covid policy, stopping, among other things, regular tests on its people.
Last week, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced that Malaysia will be tightening its borders. He said Putrajaya will tighten restrictions on travellers from China, but did not elaborate on what measures will be imposed.
In December, the health ministry announced that all travellers arriving in Malaysia will have to undergo temperature checks for fever.
At the same time, those with a history of travelling to China within 14 days of their arrival will be required to undergo an RTK-Antigen test, and samples will be sent for genome testing if they are tested positive for Covid-19. FMT