PUTRAJAYA was too quick to suspend travel to Saudi Arabia for umrah over fears of the Omicron variant, pilgrims who have been to the Gulf kingdom and back without incident said.

Dr Mohamed Azam Rauzan said the government was taking an excessive stance in dealing with the Omicron situation.

He said this is because almost all Malaysians have had two vaccine doses and are in the midst of getting their booster shots.

“The digital device is a good move (to track those in quarantine). As for Omicron, we have already achieved our herd immunity target. The government should not overreact. Omicron is not dangerous,” he said.

“We can’t deny that the government has done its work so there should be no need to panic over Omicron.”

The former Penawar assemblyman from Johor said he and his wife performed the umrah on December 20.

Instead of stopping people from travelling, the authorities should look into integrating the vaccination data systems of the Health Ministry and Immigration Department, said Azam.

“Don’t delay the umrah for too long. Malaysia is the only country in the world that prohibits umrah. That to me is excessive… Saudi Arabia is okay, just relax,” he said.

In a press conference on January 1, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said travel for umrah was barred in light of growing Covid-19 infections among pilgrims.

The government was also concerned that returnee pilgrims were not obeying home quarantine orders and spreading the infection to family members

The prohibition came into force on January 8 but it is uncertain when it will end.

Khairy said people returning from umrah accounted for 157 (64%) of the 245 Omicron cases in Malaysia.

He said 233 of the cases were imported.

Returnee pilgrims made up 85% of the 1,800 infections detected at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in the last week of 2021.

‘Don’t punish everyone’

Umno working council member Mohd Razlan Rafii said there were already measures in place to prevent the spread of the virus. 

“In fact we have no reason (to ban travel) because our country has taken preventive measures, such as quarantine, for people returning from performing umrah,” he said.

“Whoever does wrong we punish, but don’t punish everyone,” he said.

He said Saudi Arabia had taken strict steps to control the spread of Covid-19.

Razlan said to control the number of pilgrims, each pilgrim must apply for an appointment to perform umrah.

He said the appointment was made through an integrated system developed by the Saudi government.

“You can perform umrah only by appointment, for tawaf and prayers in the mosque, you also need to have an appointment, follow the procedure.

“Appointments are made through the system, as soon as we arrive, we are required to get a Saudi sim card. From there they control attendance, when we get a sim card, and then we register through their application, then only we can do umrah.

“The pilgrim’s vaccine information is stored in the app,” Razlan said.

Razlan said each pilgrim, when applying for a visa, is also required to take out an insurance policy with a maximum protection value of RM100,000.

Those who returned from the pilgrimage without becoming infected said they had abided by the strict coronavirus rules in Saudi Arabia.

Singer Noraniza Idris told The Malaysian Insight that she and her husband were careful to stay away from crowded places.

“I followed the rules while I was there. I made sure to practise social distancing and not to overly expose myself.

“I take great care of scheduling times such as meals and tawaf so as not to meet with a large number of pilgrims,” she said. – January 12, 2022.