KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 6 — Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin has called on those who want to “balik kampung” (return to hometown) to do a COVID-19 self-test before making interstate travel.
In fact, he said people living in high contact and mobility settings are encouraged to conduct regular COVID-19 testings.
Khairy in his Twitter update today said there is only 1.6 per cent left before Malaysia hits the 90 per cent threshold for the government to open interstate travel.
“While the Health Ministry has transitioned to symptomatic testing, we encourage people who are in high contact and mobility settings to test regularly.
“If you want to ‘balik kampung’ to see your elderly parents, do the RTK saliva test. Keep them safe,” he said.
Based on the COVIDNOW portal, a total of 20,698,852 or 88.4 per cent of the adult population in the country have completed their COVID-19 vaccination as of yesterday, less than two per cent short of the targeted 90 per cent.
On Sept 22, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said that interstate activity will be allowed when 90 per cent of adults in Malaysia were vaccinated against COVID-19.
In another tweet, Khairy noted that as the country are moving towards treating the COVID-19 pandemic as endemic, it much now depends on personal responsibility and behaviour.
“As we transition towards endemicity, we cannot police things anymore such as set up roadblocks to see if you have been fully vaccinated. I believe we can rise to the challenge in #ReopeningSafely,” he added.
