KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 29 — Malaysia will still hold to its Covid-19 masking policy despite neighbouring Singapore easing its laws to further promote tourism, National Recovery Council (NRC) chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said today.
Muhyiddin also commended the Ministry of Health’s (MoH) efforts in curbing the spread of Covid-19, but said the only restriction left is the wearing of face masks in public areas and indoors and tight areas.
“That’s the only thing left. We brought it up earlier in the meeting today and we asked MoH if everyone is ok, why do we need to wear it, right? They said the matter will be looked into in detail and just because Singapore is doing it doesn’t mean we have to as well,” he said after chairing the NRC meeting at Putrajaya here.
“I think it is the new norm for us, be it locals or foreigners to wear masks without being forced to. If this is a norm then the ministry could say we don’t need to wear it but if we want to, we can to protect ourselves, they could put it that way.
“However, this isn’t under the NRC’s purview but we have given suggestions and we’ll leave it to MoH to decide what to do,” he added.
Singapore removed the need to wear face masks outdoors in March 2022 and did away with requirements to wear masks indoors starting today, as the country sees its Covid-19 situation stabilise.
For the first time in more than two years, people in the South-east Asian city-state will no longer be required to wear masks indoors except on public transport and in high-risk settings like healthcare facilities.
The Singapore health ministry also updated rules for non-vaccinated travellers, dropping a 7-day quarantine requirement starting next week.
Malaysians are still required to wear face masks in tight, close and indoor areas.
