PAS wants the government to temporarily suspend the entry of travellers from China, following the surge in Covid-19 cases across the country.

Party information chief Khairil Nizam Khirudin also said the government should pay close attention to Covid-19 case numbers in countries that have received tourists from China.

“PAS suggests that the government be wary of the spread of new Covid-19 cases. Malaysia needs to learn from the spread of Covid-19 in 2020, when it did not take measures to prevent the entry of tourists at risk of infection,” he said.

The Health Ministry yesterday announced that all travellers arriving in Malaysia will have to undergo temperature checks amid concerns about China.

Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa said anyone found running a fever or declared themselves to have a fever will be immediately referred to a quarantine centre for further checks by health authorities.

She said Malaysians with a history of travelling to China are required to undergo an RTK antigen test within 14 days of their arrival.

She said samples will be sent for genome testing if any of them are positive for Covid-19.

Meanwhile, China has insisted the data it publishes on Covid-19 deaths has always been transparent, despite the official figures being tiny compared with other countries and its hospitals overwhelmed with infections.

A national disease control body said there were about 5,500 new local cases and one death today, but with the end of mass testing and the narrowing of criteria for what counts as a Covid-19 fatality, those numbers are no longer believed to reflect reality.

Some experts estimate there may be as many as 9,000 deaths a day. – December 31, 2022.