‘Covid-19 variants from China here’

PETALING JAYA: The Health Minister is seeking to soothe anxiety over the expected influx of tourists from China as it reopens for travel, saying that the SARS-CoV-2 viral variants found in the republic are already present in Malaysia.

This comes as various groups, including health experts, have called for tightened restrictions, such as the screening and testing of Chinese visitors.

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There are also calls to temporarily bar the entry of travellers from China, which is seeing a surge in Covid-19 cases following an abrupt end to its strict zero-Covid policy last month.

Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa urged the public to get their vaccine booster shots as soon as possible.

“The ministry is in close communication with the World Health Organization (WHO), China and our peers from Asean.

“Based on the report by China to WHO, the variants and subvariants found in China have also been detected in Malaysia,” she said in a statement yesterday.

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At a high-level meeting with China on Dec 30, the UN health agency said it had requested the country to regularly share specific and real-time data on its epidemiological situation.

This includes more data on genetic sequencing and disease impact, including hospitalisations, intensive care unit (ICU) admissions and deaths, as well as vaccinations delivered and vaccination status, especially in vulnerable people and those over 60.

Dr Zaliha said the extension of the local infection area declaration to June this year also gives the ministry the space to take immediate action when needed.

“This includes the change in existing policies, especially in terms of the management of Covid-19, as well as the tightening of the standard operation procedure (SOP) on health screening at the country’s international entry points,” she said, adding that if necessary, the measures could be expanded to travellers from other countries as well.

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Her ministry, she said, was weighing public concerns on the surge in infections in China and restrictions imposed by other nations on Chinese travellers.

“Preventive measures and preparations to face any potential rise in cases will be stepped up.”

Dr Zaliha called on those who have exceeded a six-month period since their first booster shot to get a second dose without waiting for the bivalent vaccine to be available.

She added that the monovalent Covid-19 vaccines offer effective protection in preventing serious symptoms and fatalities, besides reducing hospitalisation rates.

“The bivalent vaccines will be supplied soon as the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency has already given its conditional approval,” she said, adding that an announcement would be made on recipients’ eligibility after the supplies arrive.

The conditional approval for the bivalent vaccine was given on Dec 14, and the supplies are expected to arrive in Malaysia early this year.

Bivalent vaccines provide protection against the original SARS-CoV-2 virus and Omicron subvariants like BA.4 and BA.5, which were previously said to be vaccine-resistant.

Dr Zaliha said she hoped to see an uptake in booster shots, especially among high-risk individuals, as only 49.8% of Malaysians have received their first booster dose and 1.9%, their second.

She also advised the public to observe precautionary measures and the SOPs, as well as to practise TRIIS (trace, report, isolate, inform and seek treatment).

The ministry recently announced Covid-19 measures for travellers from China, including testing all such incoming visitors and the wastewater from the aircraft they are on.

Nations like Japan, India, the United States, Italy and Taiwan have imposed mandatory Covid-19 testing on travellers arriving from China.

Heightened tourist and business travel arrivals from China are highly anticipated around the world after the country is set to remove the quarantine requirement for travellers from overseas on Jan 8.

The move will enable mainland Chinese residents to finally travel abroad more easily after nearly three years of closed borders.