THE government will make an announcement soon on whether to lift the mask mandate in enclosed spaces, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said.

“We have already discussed it internally. We more or less know what the decision is. Give me a few days,” he told a media conference after the launch of the National Innovation and Sandbox Health Technology Hub at MRANTI Park in Kuala Lumpur today.

Khairy was responding to a statement by the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) on Wednesday urging the government to review its policy on the mandatory wearing of masks in enclosed spaces, following a similar decision made by many other countries, including Singapore. 

MMA president Dr Koh Kar Chai said this was because the number of Covid-19 cases in the country had reached a “plateau of sorts” and the number of hospitalisations due to the virus was not high.

Prior to this, National Recovery Council chairman Muhyiddin Yassin said a decision on whether to ease the use of masks in enclosed spaces would be looked into and decided by the Health Ministry (MOH).

Meanwhile, Khairy said the MOH is still studying the decision by the United States’ Food and Drug Administration to authorise booster shots that target the Omicron BA.5 sub-variant. 

The MOH has a technical working group for Covid-19 vaccines, which will evaluate data before making recommendations, Khairy said. – Bernama, September 2, 2022.