THE actual date for Malaysia’s transition to endemicity will be decided at a briefing next week, during the Covid-19 quartet ministerial meeting.

Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said the briefing will be given by the health and foreign ministries, as well as other relevant agencies.

“We postponed the transition before because we wanted to hear reports on the impact of flooding, as well as the situation with the Omicron variant and travellers returning to Malaysia, especially from Saudi Arabia, first.

“So, at the meeting next week, we will hear the briefing from the ministries and other agencies on these aspects so that we can present it to the special committee chaired by the Prime Minister (Ismail Sabri Yaakob) before the actual date for the transition can be decided,” he told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today.

He said the decision will not be done in haste and the postponement of the transition may take two to three weeks from the original date, which is in the first week of January.

Prior to this, Hishammuddin reportedly said that the government had decided to temporarily postpone the transition following the increase in the Omicron infections in the country. – Bernama, January 17, 2022.