DAILY Covid-19 cases in Malaysia have remained below 500 since the country opened its borders to tourists from China on January 8, said Dr Zaliha Mustafa. 

The health minister said that based on reports, there had been a total of 28,705 arrivals from China between January 8 and 17 and none tested positive for Covid-19. 

She said that one arrival was found to have a fever but tested negative for the coronavirus. 

Last month, Zaliha said Malaysia would check the body temperature of all inbound travellers, including those from China, and those detected with fever or other symptoms would be tested for Covid-19. 

The ministry would also sample wastewater from aircraft arriving from China for Covid-19 and would conduct tests to detect the entry of any new variant, she had said. 

 “The health ministry will continue to monitor infections in the country and abroad through information obtained from the World Health Organization and joint cooperation between Asean countries as well as China. 

“The ministry will always ensure appropriate preventive and control measures are implemented,” she said in a statement today.

She said cases have remained in the three-digit region since December 17. 

Zaliha added that there was an increase in people getting their second booster shot at government health facilities nationwide over the last two weeks, with 16,292,524 primary booster doses administered. 

She urged Malaysians who had yet to receive a primary vaccine dose to immediately register for one. – January 20, 2023.