KUALA LUMPUR: Umrah trips to Saudi Arabia will be temporarily postponed, effective Jan 8 until a later date.
Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the government had decided on the measure in light of increasing Covid-19 positive cases, especially involving the more transmissible Omicron variant among returnees from the kingdom.
He further said booking of new umrah flight tickets had been postponed starting from Jan 1.
Umrah pilgrims returning to the country from Jan 3, he said would be subjected to mandatory quarantine at quarantine stations or hotels that have been identified as quarantine stations by National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma).
"For pilgrims who will depart for the Holy Land from Jan 1 to Jan 7, they are allowed to continue with their journey.
"However, they have to undergo quarantine at a quarantine station or hotel that has been identified as a quarantine station by Nadma when they arrive in Malaysia," he said during a press conference here today.
Khairy said from Jan 1 to Dec 30 last year, the health ministry detected 2,763 Covid-19 positive cases among travellers/returnees arriving at the international gateway.
Of that number, he said 1,446 Covid positive cases were detected among those arriving from Saudi Arabia, followed by Singapore (322 cases), Indonesia (264 cases), and the United Kingdom (217 cases).
"Non-compliance with the Home Surveillance Order (HSO) has also exposed housemates, family members living in the same house as well as neighbours and relatives who come to visit, to Covid-19 infection."