PUTRAJAYA has decided to tighten border controls to curb fresh Covid-19 cases that could be spread by travellers from China and the United States, Anwar Ibrahim said today.

The prime minister said this was done following fears of a new Covid-19 wave with the lifting of travel restrictions in China.

He said the government’s main priority is to protect the people’s health, adding that economy and tourism should take a back seat.

“We will control and tighten (our borders) even more, including (for travellers) from the United States and China,” he said during the televised press conference after the weekly cabinet meeting.

Anwar also said Malaysia would not discriminate against travellers from any particular nation, reiterating that the tighter entry measures would be for all travellers.

“We are acting to save our people,” he said.

“We will not choose (which countries to impose additional restrictions on) because we know travellers (with Covid-19) can come from anywhere. We don’t want to be hasty.”

Anwar said around 336,000 travellers from China entered Malaysia last year, with 53,000 of them in December alone.  

He said most of them were tourists.  

“We did not see any spike in infection then, so we cannot specifically link any country (to a rise in cases),” he said.  

The prime minister also urged Malaysians to get their booster shots. 

He said there are around six million doses of booster jabs still available.  

“We have enough vaccines but a lot of them have expired… expired because the reception for booster shots were not as good as the premier shots,” he said.  

He urged journalists who have not received their booster doses to do so soon.  

“Journalists who have yet to take their booster doses must take theirs. The vaccines are available now. 

“Once you (journalists) take the booster shots, the people will follow,” he said. – January 4, 2023.