During today’s address by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, the government has announced the lifting of operating hour restrictions for business premises as part of Malaysia’s transition to the endemic phase from 1st April 2022. He said all businesses can operate according to their respective licence conditions. This means restaurants and eateries can operate past midnight, allowing Mamak restaurants, fast food outlets and other eateries to open 24 hours.
The decision came just in time for the upcoming Ramadhan month where Muslims can sahur (meal before fasting) at restaurants. MySejahtera check-in for contact tracing is still required except for non-congested open spaces. MySJ Trace (Bluetooth contact tracing) is mandatory for closed spaces with high traffic. The worker capacity limit according to vaccination status has been lifted as well.
The Prime Minister also announced that all religious activities at places of worship including Muslims and non-Muslims can be carried out without social distancing. For Islamic religious affairs, he said the move to drop the social distancing requirement for mosques and suraus is a suggestion from the Federal Government and the final decision lies with the respective state governments. The 50% seating capacity reduction requirement for events, conference and weddings is also removed. However, wearing a face mask is still required in all public spaces.
The government has also announced the reopening of international borders from 1st April 2022. Fully vaccinated travellers are no longer required to undergo mandatory quarantine and MyTravelPass is no longer required to enter the country. However, incoming travellers are still required to conduct an RT-PCR test 48 hours before arrival and an RT-Antigen test within 24 hours upon arrival in Malaysia. Interstate travel within Malaysia is also permitted regardless of vaccination status.
Although Malaysia continues to record over 25,000 new COVID-19 cases daily, more than 99% of cases reported had mild or no symptoms which is partly due to high vaccination rates. As of 7th March 2022, 97.5% of adults are fully vaccinated and 64% have received their boosters. Malaysia has also fully vaccinated 91% of teens, while 29.3% of children aged between 5-11 years old have received at least one vaccine dose.
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