EASING border controls will only be considered once local transmissions of Covid-19 are under control, said Health Director-General Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah. 

“If we succeed during this period of time then we will look at the possibility of easing border controls. Today we are strengthening our borders but we are also making sure that we can control local transmission.

“Once we can control local transmissions, then we can ease the border controls,” he told the daily briefing on Covid-19 today.

This could include allowing in only people from countries ranked as green zones in the Global Covid Index, as well as requiring them to be screened and quarantined before entering Malaysia. 

“Things like this will have to be discussed with the respective countries, government to government,” he said. 

The state of the pandemic will have to be considered before a decision on Malaysia’s border controls can be made, Dr Noor Hisham added.

Malaysia right now allows only its citizens to arrive from overseas. Foreigners, except diplomats, are barred from entering the country since the enforcement of the movement control order on March 18. 

The number of new infections today returned to double digits of 19, after reaching a record high of 277 yesterday.

This brings the total number of infections to 8,266.

Fifty-one people have been discharged from hospital as of noon today, bringing the number of recoveries to 6,610. 

Malaysia today also reported its first Covid-19 death in two weeks, bringing the national death toll to 116. – June 5, 2020.